Wildfire: Perilous Roulette
by Catalyst Spark
Summary: Time has passed since the battle in Australia and things have settled for the autobots, but two new arrivals and an old enemy's situation may prove challenging. IronhidexOC WARNING: Strong language/Violence/suggestive scenes, Sequel to Benevolent Renegade
1. Move Along

It felt like it was so long ago, the battles only a distant memory to her now, a year hadn't even passed yet but everything since that day had been great, the arguments and debates were just a part of daily life but she wouldn't be able to appreciate the better times were it not for the rougher moments. Today marked a year that she had know the autobots, fall was setting in once more, the leaves were turning, Victoria looked over the landscape from the cliff she had ridden to. Her new bike wasn't a classic as the one she had before had been but the Honda Shadow still served it's purpose and was much more maneuverable. She looked to the town in the distance, that was where it had all started, where she first met her autobot friends, her new family, and today she was going to meet another two of their allies.

Sideswipe kept looking around, his eyes on the darkening sky as he searched franticly for any sign of the new arrival. They had received a communication from the incoming autobot but Sideswipe had known before the signal even reached the atmosphere. The moment he had felt his twin's signature through the twin bond he had shouted through the coms to everyone that Sunstreaker was on his way to the planet, a few hours after that they received the actual communication from the silver bot's twin letting them know he would be landing today and that he was bringing another friend with him.

This had been the landing coordinates they had given Sunstreaker and then Optimus sent a team out here to be able to greet them and see to any damage they may have. Sideswipe kept skating from one side of the cliff top to the other and looking about the sky as if he'd miss them if he blinked. Victoria shook her head a bit seeing this "Hey 'Sides, calm down, they'll be here but ya gonna wear yaself out if ya keep going on like that." the redhead said to Sideswipe as the silver bot looked back at her with a bit of a childish grin.

"I know but I just can't wait! I told you how long it's been since I've seen my brother." Sideswipe said before moving his gaze to the sky once more "He's really close, I can feel it, he'll be visible any moment now."

"Really? That close?" The redhead said as she looked upwards as well, they knew Sunstreaker was coming but he hadn't said who he had with him only that it was another autobot which they had all figured.

//"You know Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are goin' to drive us all crazy, right?"\\ Ironhide sent to her through a private com as he came to stand behind where she was on her bike.

//"Maybe they'll drive y'all crazy, but ya gotta remember, I'm already half crazy. . ."\\ Victoria begun on the com before Ironhide interrupted her.

//"The other half you don't admit, I know Vic, you've said that line enough in the last year for it to be committed to my memory by now."\\ he sent to her, the redhead just shook her head a bit at that.

"I see them!" Sideswipe suddenly shouted to the others as he pointed to a section of the sky, sure enough there were two comet like items blazing across the sunset sky. Victoria watched as the light reflected off the incoming protoforms, the trail of flames behind them from their entry through the atmosphere flickering brilliantly from the force of the winds and speed. Everyone's attention was drawn to the two autobots coming in for a crash landing as the grew nearer.

//"Do they appear to be on course 'Bee?"\\ Victoria sent over the com to the yellow scout, over time she had learned how the connections worked enough to establish them herself instead of having to be contacted first. Bumblebee, Sam and Ratchet were closer to the landing zone to intercept the newcomers and be sure there was no damage to them when they landed. Optimus had chosen this specific location due to Victoria's suggestion, this was the abandoned strip of land she normally used for her joyrides, since she knew the area he had asked her to coordinate it, which she had. So far it was all going to plan, if only Bumblebee would respond //"'Ello? Earth to 'Bee! Do they look like they're on course?"\\ she sent again.

//"Sorry Vic, Sam was asking me something. Yea, the look like they're right on course from this angle, what about where you are?"\\ Bumblebee finally responded.

//"Everything looks good on this end, let me know soon as they touch down a'right?"\\ Victoria sent.

//"Will do Vic."\\ Bumblebee responded before the connection clicked closed. The redhead watched the protoforms coming in hot, as they grew nearer the wind kicked up from the sheer speed at which they were traveling, as soon as they passed by the cliff her half of the team was standing on a blast of heated air followed in the two autobot's wake, thankfully it wasn't too hot of a wave though it was uncomfortable it had passed just as quickly, it wasn't long before they heard impact against the ground and Victoria turned her bike towards the path they had used to get up here "That's our cue boys." she said as Sideswipe and Ironhide transformed into their alternative modes.

"We'll be right behind you Vic." Ironhide said.

"Yea, lets hurry, I want to see Sunny!" Sideswipe stated, the silver bot was rather excited but Victoria couldn't blame him, this was his twin they were talking about after all. Victoria nodded as she hit the throttle and began down the path, Ironhide and Sideswipe right behind her.

//"They've come to a stop Vic"\\ Bumblebee transmitted to her as she tore down the path.

//"A'right, we're on our way 'Bee, try to find the designation of the one accompanying Sunstreaker."\\ she sent back.

//"Once he unfolds himself, he seems to be having a little trouble."\\ Bumblebee responded.

//"Trouble? Think ya could be a little more specific?"\\ she asked.

//"I think he's stuck in the entry position, Ratchet's working on helping him."\\ Bumblebee informed her.

//"A'right, we'll be there in a sec."\\ Victoria responded with before the connection clicked closed. The redhead glanced back slightly before taking a sharp turn, following the path down "We got one of 'em kinda stuck in their entry position, Ratch is trying to get 'em unfolded, everything else seems to be going pretty smoothly though." she shouted to Ironhide and Sideswipe behind her.

"If it's Sun that's stuck, I'm going to laugh at his aft." Sideswipe stated.

"My, such a caring brother." Vic stated, her voice just dripping with sarcasm at the statement.

"Be quiet tire killer." Sideswipe responded in jest, this got a laugh from the redhead.

"Whateva wheel feet." she said, she heard Ironhide give a slight grunt at the playful banter, the redhead smirked a bit before sending one message to Ironhide via a private communication //"Keep it up and I'll give you a real reason to make those sounds."\\ she teased before quickly closing the connection so the weapons specialist didn't have a chance to respond, he kept trying to establish another connection with her to get in his comment but she kept denying the incoming connection. She knew how to mess with Ironhide after all this time. She just glanced back to her lover as he followed in his alt form and gave a wink, this caused Ironhide to grumble a bit and the redhead laughed. "Love ya Ironhide." she shouted back at him.

"Will you two stop that?" Sideswipe said as they finally took the last turn in the path, it was a straight shot to the landing zone from here.

"Why 'Sides? Would ya rather we said it out loud?" Victoria said.

"Not what I mean!" Sideswipe said sounding rather shocked at even the thought of hearing them flirt, Victoria couldn't help but laugh, Ironhide also gave a chuckle at Sideswipe's reaction. Victoria still saw Sideswipe as a big brother and loved him dearly as family but he was still just too fun to mess with sometimes. Ironhide, Sideswipe and herself had become something of a trio over the months, they were always picking on each other but they worked rather well together even if they rarely had to show it in this peaceful time, the battle months before stood as proof. Soon they came into view of the landing sight, one of the protoforms was already standing, he was the same height at Sideswipe and had wheeled feet as well, he looked towards the incoming group, looking right at the silver corvette before scanning Sideswipe's stingray form and folding down into a yellow version of the same car as they came to a stop nearby. Ironhide and Sideswipe shifted into their true forms and Sideswipe made his way right towards the yellow copy of his alt mode.

"What? Can't go out and find your own earth form Sunny?" Sideswipe said nudging the side of Sunstreaker's vehicle form with his hand.

"Hey, watch the paint!" the yellow corvette said before he transformed into his bipedal form and grabbed onto Sideswipe, hugging his brother. "I missed you man." he said.

"So glad you made it Sunny, you had me worried out my processor!" Sideswipe said returning the hug.

Victoria couldn't help by smile, she hadn't seen Sideswipe that happy before, she was glad to see he had his twin back. "Great, we're doomed." Ironhide said from behind her, Victoria laughed as she killed the engine of her bike and got off.

"Nah, I think we'll make it." the redhead said looking back to Ironhide for a moment before she looked towards where Ratchet and Bumblebee were trying to help the other unfold, Victoria made her way towards them as the medic was grabbing onto one part of the protoform and Bumblebee was pulling at another. "A'right, so who is it and how bad are they stuck?" Victoria asked.

"Be careful!" came the voice from the folded up protoform before the medic looked towards Vic.

"His name is Prowl, he's our tactical officer, it seems the landing was a bit rough on him and seems to have locked some of his joints." Ratchet informed her before moving to try and tug what looked like an arm free to help this Prowl unfold. Finally the arm was freed, sending Ratchet tumbling onto his aft from the sudden movement.

"Careful Ratch, ya might break something." Vic said with a small laugh as she saw the medic get up and saw the freed arm from the folded up Prowl move to push off of the ground a bit.

"I think I have it from here." Prowl said as he pushed himself upwards slightly and began to carefully unfold himself, Bumblebee stepped back as he did so and soon Prowl stood, he was near Ironhide's height but a bit less bulky, their protoforms did look rather bare without their armor.

"Well 'ello there Prowl, we needa find ya an alt mode, ya look a little naked there." Victoria said towards the new arrival, Sunstreaker had just copied his brother's car form which was understandable considering he and Sideswipe were twins but for Prowl they would have to find a suiting one, especially since the tactical officer was a decent sized bot.

Prowl turned to look at where the redhead stood, he leaned down a bit to get a good look at her before he looked towards Ironhide who was standing behind her. "So this is a human?" he asked Ironhide.

"Yea, she is, for the most part." Ironhide began.

"Name's Victoria Marcus, nice to meet ya Prowl." the redhead introduced herself, Prowl looked back towards her and just seemed to look over her for a moment, his optics locking on the metal which was incorporated into her left arm, and autobot insignia imprinted on it, something which had been added recently after Optimus honoring her request to join the ranks of the autobots despite her being mostly human, the leader had seen no problem considering not only her situation and cybertronian qualities she had gained from the allspark but also the fact she had fought alongside them, he had granted her request and Ratchet had been the one to add the insignia to her arm.

"Why is there cybertronian metal on her arm? And why does she bare the autobot insignia?" Prowl asked as he looked towards Ratchet.

"She lost use of her arm during a battle, it was the only way to restore function to the limb. She is among the autobot ranks Prowl." the medic answered. Victoria gave an annoyed sigh, bringing her hand to the bridge of her nose for a moment as her brows knitted in annoyance, she was standing right here, she could explain why if Prowl asked but he kept asking the others and didn't even seem to acknowledge that she was speaking to him. She would just have to fix that.

Victoria closed her eyes a moment before she was able to lock on to Prowl's signal and establish a communication link //"That's not the only similarity I have to y'all. Now if ya done staring at me, we need to find you an alt mode."\\ she sent to Prowl, doing it this way to be sure she got his attention before closing the connection and looking up at the new arrival.

Prowl actually jumped when he received the message from her, he looked right at the redhead with a rather shocked expression "Humans can use the internal com links?!" he asked.

"Nah, jus' me. Long story, we'll explain after we find ya an alt mode that works, a'right?" Victoria said before looking towards the nearby medic "Wouldya mind going with 'im Ratch? So he doesn't happen into the wrong area or get spotted?" she asked.

"I wouldn't mind at all." Ratchet said before looking over to Prowl and motioning for him to follow "I'll explain a bit while we look." the medic said, Prowl turned to follow as Victoria looked back to where Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were, they had begun walking towards where she and the others were.

"Vic, you have to meet my twin." Sideswipe said as he and Sunstreaker came to a stop near her and Ironhide. Sideswipe turned back toward Sunstreaker "Sunny, this is Vic, she stays with us at the base we have set up here." Sideswipe told his twin before Sunstreaker looked towards the redhead.

"Hey there Sunstreaker, nice to meet ya, 'Sides told me bout ya." she said, giving a bit of a wave.

"Hi." was all Sunstreaker said to her before looking back to his twin "As long as no one asks me to let it ride in me, I'm fine."

"It? Boy, don't call me an 'it', I'll throw something at ya ass." she said, leveling a finger to point at Sunstreaker.

"You wouldn't dare." Sunstreaker said to her, a cocky smirk on his face.

"You don't want to test her Sunny, she doesn't make empty threats." Sideswipe warned his twin with a slight laugh as Sunstreaker's smirk fell.

Ironhide stepped forward at that moment and leaned down so his face was closer to Victoria "I told you we're doomed." the weapons specialist said to her, she just looked over at her lover with a small smile, shaking her head slightly.

"Nah, I just might have to key 'im a few times to get the point across." Vic said, Ironhide gave a small chuckle as he brought his hand down to Victoria, lifting her from the ground and placing her on his shoulder as he stood.

Sunstreaker went silent for a moment before he looked up at the redhead "Do not mess up my paint, no key marks!" he said, the redhead couldn't help but give a small laugh as Sideswipe placed a hand on his twin's shoulder.

"Sunstreaker, she's joking, that's just how Vic's humor is, you'll get use to her." Sideswipe said as his twin looked back at him.

"I thought you said she doesn't make empty threats." Sunstreaker responded.

"I never said she wouldn't do it if you gave her a reason to, just said she was joking about it." Sideswipe explained.

Victoria just shook her head a bit, leaning against the side of Ironhide's head as she brought her hand up to run her fingers across the horn like part near his ear. "I think I'm going to have fun messing with him 'til he gets use to me." she told her guardian.

"Careful Vic, he'll get you back for it." Ironhide warned her, Victoria couldn't help but grin.

"A little competition neva hurt anyone." the redhead said before she switched to internal communication with Ironhide //"And if I remember right, I still need to get ya back for what ya pulled on me the other night, didn't think I forgot, did ya?"\\ she sent him over a private com connection, Ironhide gave a bit of a choked sound at that message, causing both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to look at him with an optic ridge raised.

//"I thought you were gonna let that one slide."\\ Ironhide sent back.

Victoria couldn't help but smirk //"Ya should know me better by now."\\ she responded with as she noticed Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's looks, Ironhide also seemed to notice at that moment and they both closed the connection at the same time.

Sideswipe was shaking his head a bit as he looked at them "I'm not even going to ask." the silver bot said.

Sunstreaker looked towards his twin once more "Are they. . .?" he began to ask and Sideswipe just nodded in response, Sunstreaker looked rather surprised and his next word confirmed the look on his face "WHAT?!"

* * *

They had made it back home once Prowl had found himself a suiting alternative mode, much to Victoria's dismay he had chosen to scan a police car of all things, it was a blue and white Diablo with an autobot insignia designed into the shield emblem at his side. That was going to take some getting use to seeing around but at least he was on their side. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had vanished for the time being, Victoria knew they had a lot to catch up on after all the time they had spent away from each other.

Bumblebee, Sam, Ironhide and Victoria were sitting around outside for the time being, the redhead intended to let the others explain to the new arrivals that they had a human among them who had a spark, she simply didn't feel like explaining it right now, she figured they would take it about as well as Sam had, if taking it well counted yelling what the hell in response, though Sam was use to it at this point, he had taken the news of Ironhide and Victoria's relationship rather well in comparison and Bumblebee seemed rather happy for them, now, just when everyone had grown use to it, they had two new arrivals who would have to adjust.

"So the yellow one is Sideswipe's twin and the cop is someone named Prowl?" Sam said, though it sounded as if he just wanted to confirm the information.

"He's not a cop, he's the tactical officer, but yea, pretty much." Vic said as she leaned back against Ironhide, she had taken a seat on his thigh when he had sat on the ground, thankfully his thigh was much easier to keep her balance on then his shoulder but she was quite comfortable at either point.

"Right, tactical officer, either way, how many others do you think will show up?" Sam asked.

"We don't know, they might be the last or there might be more headin' our way." Ironhide answered.

//"Hey Vic, want to spar?"\\ Bumblebee sent her via com.

Victoria looked over towards Bumblebee and smirked a bit //"Sure 'Bee, unarmed again?"\\ she asked through the connection.

//"Yea, you're getting better. I think the practice could do a bit more good."\\ he said before the connection closed and she saw Bumblebee shift into his vehicle form and activate his holoform.

Victoria looked up to Ironhide and placed a hand up in his chest "Me and 'Bee are gonna have a lil' spar babe." she said before she moved to get off his thigh, Ironhide moved as if he was going to try and stop her before he moved his hand away, if was taking time but he was getting use to the fact that she wasn't as fragile anymore, though he had even been know to be slightly rough with her as of late even though it was always playful with them.

"Just be careful." he said, the redhead gave a small smirk, looking up at him.

"Don't worry, I will, still wanna go a round against ya one day though." she said as she poked him in the side, right at that ticklish spot she could reach while he was sitting, Ironhide flinched a bit at the poke before bringing his hand to very lightly push her away from the sensitive area.

"Don't start with that." he said as the redhead gave his hand a playful shove from her, he responded with a light shove of his own, knocking her from her feet and onto her rear, Victoria gave a chuckle at that.

"Hey now, if ya gonna start getting pushy least activate ya holoform so we're on equal ground." she said as she got back to her feet. It wasn't until she got tackled from behind that she realized Bumblebee had managed to sneak up behind her while she was picking on Ironhide, she laughed at the young mech's antics as she managed to keep her footing and simply ended up with Bumblebee's holoform on her back "A'right 'Bee, ya got me that time, now get off my back." she said as she tried to shrug him off of her, it didn't work, he just grabbed on tighter, his legs wrapped around her waist from behind. "A'right, suit yaself." she said before grabbing onto his arms which were wrapped around her shoulders and slamming herself down backwards and thus slamming Bumblebee against the ground, he let go once she did that and she stood, turning to him and offering a hand down to help him up "See? I got my own way of getting ya off my back." she said as she pulled him to his feet, he was smiling, she knew that she didn't hurt him, after all their holoforms didn't sustain injury.

Bumblebee didn't give up, he moved to try and headlock her, she ducked down to avoid it with a chuckle, she was beginning to think that he didn't really intend to spar at all but was just in the mood for a little goofy fun. "A'right you, that's it." she said before lunging forward at him, since she had discovered that their ticklishness transferred into their holoforms for the autobots who were ticklish she decided to take advantage of this and she knew Bumblebee was highly ticklish so she attacked his sides and dug her fingers in, Bumblebee shrunk back from the tickling and tried to guard his sides from her assault. The redhead just smirked "Uh-huh, that's what ya get for trying to headlock me." she said before shaking her head a bit.

She hadn't even realized Ironhide had activated his holoform until she felt his arms wrap around her from behind. "I got 'er 'Bee! Get 'er!" Ironhide said as he held the redhead against his holoform.

"Oh, I see how it is." Victoria said as she dropped a leg back behind his and hooked her ankle around Ironhide's before sweeping the foot out from under him, sending both of them tumbling to the ground chuckling before Bumblebee dived right on top of both of them and all three of them started playfully wrestling around, it wasn't often that they goofed off like this but it was fun when they did, Victoria kept trying to pin Ironhide's holoform while Bumblebee kept pulling her off of him and trying to headlock her, she just about swore those two were coordinating this through a com connection because they certainly seemed to be working together a little too well. "Hey, not fair, y'all are teaming up on me!" she said as Ironhide rolled her off from on top of him, Bumblebee helping him do this but pulling her to the ground. She could hear Sam was laughing his ass off over near Bumblebee's car form.

Ironhide moved and pinned her to the ground where she had been pulled to, he had quite the grin on his face "Now I got you." he said to her. Victoria tried to pull her wrists free of his grasp but he did indeed have a rather good grip on her, she looked at him with a smirk.

"Yea, ya got me a'right, but whatcha gonna do with me hmmm?" she taunted as she opened a com connection with her lover so the other two wouldn't hear what she said next //"I could certainly think of a few things I would do with ya if I was on top, or should I say things I would do to you."\\ she sent him with a grin.

//"Don't tempt me."\\ he sent back, Victoria felt the spark in her chest grow warmer at that, the pulsing hum becoming audible. Bumblebee paused hearing it and backed up slightly, realizing the sound had been noticed caused a bit of a blush to come to the redhead's cheeks and she gave a slight chuckle. Ironhide smiled before they heard the roaring of engines pass by, Victoria lifted her head a bit as she saw Sideswipe and his brother zoom pass where she and the others were goofing off. She heard the sirens and saw Prowl chasing behind them, she just raised an eyebrow as Ironhide rolled off her and watched the scene that drove pass them with the a slightly amused look on his face. "They're on the same planet for three hours and it starts, think that's a new record for 'em." Ironhide said, Vic could pick up the slight amusement in his voice.

"What ya think? Prank or pestering?" Vic asked looking over to Ironhide, she had heard stories from the others and a bit of bragging from Sideswipe himself about how they use to cause chaos, she remembered mention of the fact that Prowl was a favored target for the older twins.

"With how fast they're goin', I'd say prank." Ironhide answered as the trio made another pass, the redhead could hear Sideswipe and Sunstreaker laughing and yelling back taunts at Prowl as he tried to catch up with them, the tactical officer was shouting right back at the twins and sounded rather upset.

"Heh, a prank already, they do work fast, musta been a good one with how he's tearing afta 'em." Victoria said wondering just what they pulled on Prowl this quickly, she could already tell, Sunstreaker's arrival was going to liven up this base quite a bit. Sideswipe seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit as his silver car form whipped around to face Prowl and continued accelerating in reverse, this was proving rather entertaining already.

"Just wait, you ain't seen nothin' yet, those two are a terror together, one of 'em is fine, together, get ready for it." Ironhide said to her as his holoform disengaged, Victoria stood as Bumblebee disengaged his holoform as well.

"Eh, maybe to you, I think I'mma jus' enjoy the show to be hones'." Vic said as she saw Sunstreaker pull the same driving backwards stunt Sideswipe was doing before they both shot forwards right towards Prowl, they swerved onto either side of the police car alt form at the last minute, causing Prowl to have to pull a quick 180 before beginning to pursue them once more "What I'm wondering is jus' what he plans to do once he catches 'em." the redhead commented.

"Prowl will think of somethin', probably make them clean up whatever mess their prank caused." Ironhide said as he moved to scoop the redhead up in his hand and move her to his shoulder where she took a seat. The redhead watched as the three made another pass and couldn't help but smirk.

"Heh, ya know, I think I know what I'mma be doing later today." Victoria said with a bit of a grin, that grin she normally got when she had a bit of a want to go insanely fast on her bike, she just wondered if Sunstreaker would be as quick to accept the challenge of a race as his twin seemed to be.

Ironhide raised an eyebrow at her, Victoria figured he likely knew that look by now, after all they had been together for a decent span of time at this point, his next words confirmed that he recognized that look all too well "You're not plannin' on racin' both of them are you?" Ironhide asked her.

"Maybe." Victoria said with a smirk, the weapons specialist just sighed at that. Thankfully he had relaxed a bit when it came to her racing, since they didn't have the constant threat of decepticons after her throat and in light of the fact she was a bit sturdier now he had finally relaxed a bit, though he did still threaten to dent Sideswipe if she got hurt during one of their races, the silver bot was use to the threat by now and not once had Ironhide been given a reason to follow through with the promise. It was simply Ironhide's protective nature speaking anyways, by now everyone was about as use to his threats as they were to Victoria's sarcasm, such things were just a fact of life on the little base they called home.

* * *

What was she looking for? Stormflux hadn't found the courage to face her fellow decepticons since her failure in Australia, she had been roaming aimlessly, following the roads as far as they would go, she had no place now, she had no people. How would they accept her back? She had failed her commander, this was her punishment, self imposed exile. Maybe if she could get her hands on that fleshling, maybe then she could ask forgiveness. It had taken her so long to repair her own damage since she escaped that human carrier plane all those months ago, her wrist still held the scarred that disgusting human had left.

The blue femme hadn't felt quite right since that day, her systems checked out well enough but there was a lingering feeling, like something was missing, as if something had been ripped from her but she didn't know what. She increased her speed, hugging the curves of the road as she felt the current of air rolling over her frame, she wanted to get away from everything, from all these thoughts, that nagging in the back of her processor, it was going to drive her truly mad if she didn't find a way a way to silence it! It was like an echo taunting her, reminding her she was no longer whole.

She didn't know why but she felt that she had to go west, she felt as it something was calling her there, as if she might feel complete once more if she found whatever was beaconing her there, whatever was calling her across the country. She had to follow it, if she didn't it would drive her to madness, though many had questioned her sanity previously as it was.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" she shouted to the afternoon sky as her own voice echoed back to her from all angles. She was so tired of the nagging feeling, she just had to shout, she needed some form of outlet. "Get a hold of yourself girl, shouting and yelling like a lunatic isn't going to help anything. Just follow the feeling, that's right, maybe whatever it is that's missing is that way." Stormflux said to herself as she made her way along the winding road before her. She didn't know what she was hunting or what was calling her but right now it was all she had to go off of and she had to follow it or risk losing herself.

* * *

This guy had a problem, he might be Sideswipe's twin but Sunstreaker sure was conceited. Victoria had decided to try and get to know the new arrivals a bit, Prowl turned out to be pretty polite, he seemed very stuck on procedure and rules but he wasn't half bad, Sunstreaker on the other hand seemed too concerned with his paintjob and looks to notice the stick up his aft. He was already wearing on the redhead's already limited patience as it was, he was currently obsessing over the tiniest scratch he had gotten when Prowl finally caught them. The scratch wasn't even an inch long, Vic could patch that up in a couple of seconds with her paint and body work experience, she was going to offer to take care of it for him but then he started showing just how vain he was and the redhead decided to just let him suffer with the scratch for now.

Sure Sideswipe had been known to be a little full of himself but he had a lot of redeeming qualities as well, Sunstreaker seemed to just be conceited as hell. There were two things in this world Victoria couldn't stand, that was sexism and conceitedness, thankfully the former wasn't a concern among the autobots but the yellow twin was the perfect example of the second.

"Calm down Sun, it's just a scratch." Sideswipe said to his twin.

"It's a scratch in my paintjob 'Sides, a flaw and old Hatchet won't fix it right now." Sunstreaker responded with, the redhead couldn't help but roll her eyes hearing this, it seemed Sideswipe's twin had nicknames for a few of the autobots.

"Damn boy, get ova it eh? Swear ya sound worse than a cheerleader with a broken nail on prom night." Victoria said to Sunstreaker, she heard a slight snicker come from Sideswipe as his twin glared at her.

"What would you know fleshy?" Sunstreaker responded.

"More than ya might think ya pain in the aft." Victoria paused slightly after she said that, she really was picking up on their slang a little too much as of late. "Ya know, I sure hope ya don't worry bout scratches that much in combat, talk bout a liability if ya get distracted bitching bout a damned chip in ya paint." she said, she really didn't like being called a fleshy or anything similar to such, normally the others didn't refer to her with the term, mostly because she had a tendency of throwing something at their heads if they did.

"Are you saying I can't fight?" Sunstreaker asked sounding offended.

"No, what I'm saying is I hope ya can pull ya head out ya ass long enough to hold ya own in battle." she retorted, Sunstreaker moved as if his was going to approach the redhead but Sideswipe put his arm in front of his brother.

"Easy Sunny, Vic's just sarcastic, you'll get use to her humor in time." the silver bot said to his twin.

"She didn't sound like she was joking." Sunstreaker said. Sideswipe brought a hand to rub the back of his head a bit before glancing over at the redhead.

//"Cool it Vic, Sunstreaker is easy to offend sometimes."\\ Sideswipe sent to her over a private com as he began to speak to his twin in cybertronian.

//"That's his problem 'Sides, he'll get use to it, or he'll end up hating me, one way or another. He is conceited though."\\ she sent back.

//"Yea, he can be sometimes but he's not that bad really. Please don't make him into an enemy Vic."\\ Sideswipe sent in response, Victoria gave a bit of a sigh at that.

//"I went into bitch mode again, didn't I?"\\ the redhead said over the com.

//"I wasn't going to say it like that but, yea, you kind of did."\\ Sideswipe sent as he glanced towards where the redhead was sitting //"Come on Vic, he's my twin, you know he can't be all bad if he's related to me."\\

//"Sorry 'Sides, just, well, guess I'll have to get use to him."\\ she sent as she watched the two talking in cybertronian, not being able to understand them was annoying her but they were brothers, she wouldn't try to intrude on their private conversation.

//"It's not me you need to apologize to Vic."\\ Sideswipe told her via the connection.

//"Something tells me he's not in the mood to listen right now."\\ she sent. This meeting was already off to a rough start, OK, so she was a bit harsh, she knew it, she would admit it but Sunstreaker wasn't exactly the most agreeable being on the planet himself it seemed. But he was Sideswipe's twin, she saw Sideswipe like a big brother and, if anything else, she would try to get alony with Sunstreaker for that reason alone, if only she could figure out how to smooth over this little mistake of hers, she gave a sigh, not even waiting for the twins in front of her to finish their statements as it seemed there was no end to their conversation in sight so she took the chance at interrupting them, even if it was rather rude. "So, you two up for a race?" Vic asked, Sideswipe looked towards her with a smirk, Sunstreaker soon mirrored his twin's response.

"Think you can keep up fleshy?" Sunstreaker said.

"OK, first things first, if we're going to have any chance of getting along, ya need to stop calling me 'fleshy', second, I'll leave ya in the dust." she said, there was something of a friendly challenge in her voice, she always taunted those she would race, she liked the challenge.

Sunstreaker grinned a bit "You're on." he said before the three of them moved to head out, Victoria heading to where her Honda shadow was parked, not only did the prospect of a race seem to make Sunstreaker a bit more agreeable but it was going to be quite a bit of fun for all three of them, or at least the redhead hoped.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_I said I was going to take a break didn't I? Man I got a weird definition of 'break' eh? Not even a week since the last chapter of Benevolent Renegade and here I am again!_

_So, just a starting out chapter, showing how things have settled in, the arrival of Sunstreaker and Prowl (Oh I'm gonna have fun with these additions) and Victoria's standing now as well as a glimpse into Stormflux's progress, yes, she did survive, Also, I do have a little contest going on Deviantart right now, see my profile for the link to my account and look at the journal, Stormflux needs a face for her robotic mode, reward is a month's premium membership, up to three winners, so try ya had at it if ya can pull off cybertronian designs eh?_

_I hope you guys like the beginning of this installment, Wildfire: Perilous Roulette, oh how names can foreshadow._

_Til next time ya'll!_


	2. Something we didn't realize

Stormflux no longer even knew what town she was in, the states, the cities, they all began to blur together to her. She didn't care to have any unwanted attention so she had activated her holoform as she drove down these darkened streets. Long blue hair, purple streaks and a body that could kill both figuratively and literally, she picked this look from an online magazine, it suited her she thought, the appearance was a bit striking by human standards but she liked it, right down to the tan semi-open blouse and high cut shorts it wore, human forms of any kind disgusted her but if she was going to roam these streets she needed something to avoid too many odd looks, the last thing she needed was to gain attention by being a driverless vehicle.

She pulled up to a red light on the empty street, coming to a stop to at least appear as if she was a normal driver when a man approached her alt mode's side, she looked over to him, this was certainly a shady area of whatever town she was is and this guy looked the part, he held a gun to the holoform. Stormflux grinned, how foolish these creatures were, didn't he know that he had just signed his death warrant? Stormflux's driver door opened, slamming into the man at her side as her holoform got out, long legs and a pale completion, she was flawless, she had made sure this holoform was "Oh so you want to play?" she said to the man as she began to walk towards him, a grin painting her lips as he stood and aimed the gun at her.

"Yea, that's right, I was going to take your car but you'll do just fine too." he said aiming for her head "On your knees bitch."

Stormflux's holoform chuckled, still walking towards the man, how amusing, he thought that puny human weapon of his gave him any kind of power. She walked right up to him, wrapping her hand around the barrel of the gun and ripping it from the man's hand, a shot firing to the side from the force "I don't think so." she said as she lifted a heeled foot and aimed a kick right to the man's chest with crushing force sending him tumbling back, she dashed forward and narrowed her hand as the man stood once more, he turned to run but she was faster, she punched her holoform's hand right through his chest, blood running down his back and dripping onto the ground below "Oops, I think I broke my toy." she said as she tossed the quivering body to the side before flinging the blood from her hand and returning to her alternative mode, she got in and swerved as she pulled off, being certain to send a tire over the would-be carjacker.

"Too easy, I need a real challenge." she said to herself as she decided to abandon precaution and sped up, barreling down the road as her holoform sat at the steering wheel. It simply wasn't satisfying to kill him, she thought it would be but humans like that were nothing but insects, easily crushed, no, they couldn't even give her a challenge. Where was their will to fight? Where was their drive to survive? Did none of them have that fire? One did, the one who left that mark on her wrist, the one who had aided those autobot scum, that fleshling had spirit, a passion the others she had taken to massacring didn't have.

Stormflux's holoform flickered before she decided to abandon the false image altogether, letting it deactivate as she felt a burn pulse through her spark, she gave a scream of anger and annoyance, her voice echoing off the buildings as she passed them by and she increased speeds, that was what was missed, revenge, maybe that was what was calling her, maybe that was what was leading her west, maybe, just maybe, that was where that pathetic red haired earth creature was.

* * *

Victoria woke up to pain, her spark had gone hot in her sleep, she was woken by the following pain that shot through her, a growl of agitation escaped her lips before the feeling faded as quickly as it had came. She brought her hand to her chest, just what were these phantom pains? They were always sudden but always stopped quickly. Ratchet had already seen her because of them and he could find nothing wrong, her spark was normal, well, at least as normal as it could be seeing as it was within a human body, there was no sign of instability or even damage to the surrounding tissues the only thing the medic could suggest was that it was a simple energy build up, something that was normal for overstressed sparks but she hadn't even been stressed lately, everything had been going wonderfully these last few months. The other cause of such pains he had mentioned was when a bonded spark was reacting to the distress of one it was bonded to but these pains only occurred in siblings, those with a creation bond or spark mates, she had no bonds like that so that certainly wasn't the cause.

The redhead looked over towards Ironhide who was still deep in recharge next to her, she gave a small sigh, it was nothing to worry about, after all, Ratchet had inspected her multiple times in regards to these pains and they posed no threat to her so she decided to simply push it from her mind. She simply rolled over and curled up against Ironhide's chest plates, she could feel the warmth of his spark through his chest and hear that soothing, pulsing hum, a sound she always found comforting. Victoria simply closed her eyes for a moment, listening to that gentle sound, her hands grasped lightly onto Ironhide as she held herself against him.

She felt him move a bit and cringed just slightly, she knew he never moved while in recharge, none of them did she had been informed so she must have woken him by accident, she opened her eyes and looked up only to find those deep blue optics looking back at her, she gave a sheepish smile "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake ya." she said as she leaned her head against his chest, he just brought a hand to gently rest over her, holding her to him.

"Don't worry bout it, everythin' alright?" he asked.

"Mhm, jus' that damned spark pain woke me up again, really is annoying as hell." she answered, she knew better then to just say it was nothing, he had gotten far too good at reading her to buy that act anymore.

"That's still worryin' me, there's no reason for it." he said as he rolled onto his back, pulling her with him so she would be resting on his chest before he brought his other hand up and ran a large finger down the scarred right side of her face. Victoria tilted her head to the touch as she gave a slight smile.

"I know, but Ratch said it isn't causing any issue, I trust 'im, jus' wish I knew the cause." the redhead said as she pulled herself higher on Ironhide's chest so she would be able to lean to kiss his cheek before relaxing on top of him, he made a bit of a hard, lumpy bed but that didn't matter, she actually found laying on his chest like this quite comfy for some reason.

"I just hope it stops. You're up for the day, ain't you?" he asked, Vic just gave a small nod, it had become pretty much impossible for her to fall asleep again after being woken up like that, she felt rather bad when it happened though because she normally ended up dragging Ironhide out of recharge by mistake and then neither of them would be resting for the rest of the night.

"What time is it anyway?" she asked as she slide herself off Ironhide's chest and onto the berth near his shoulder, her feeling hand coming to run fingers lightly down his cheek.

"It's almost six in the mornin' Vic, at least you didn't wake up at three again." he answered, bringing his hand up to cup around her, pulling her closer and kissing her side before he moved to sit up on the side of the berth, Vic began to stand as well, stretching a bit before going through her normal routine of cracking whatever joints felt stiff, the slight metallic ring she had gained due to the metal running through her bones able to be heard at some points.

"Six in the morning eh? Well, least I got mahself seven hours of sleep. Think anyone else is up yet?" she asked as she walked up to his side, placing a hand on his large metal arm.

"Besides Ratch, wouldn't bet on it." Ironhide said.

"Heh, yea, true, likely still cleaning up the mess Sunstreaker and Sides turned the med bay into with their prank, I'll tell ya, I swear they're trying to make up for lost time or something." she said before moving to the side of the berth and jumping down, landing in a bit of a crouched position, that was one thing she really did love about her body's new reinforcements, jumping down from ten feet wasn't even a risk anymore so long as she landed right, no more broken bones or strained joints, oh if only she'd have had this little gift back when she first came face to face with Barricade's holoform, she would have likely actually stood a chance, though she was glad Barricade decided to leave the decepticons, part of her even hoped he was doing well on his new path, wherever it was leading him right now.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet. And I really wish you would stop doin' that." Ironhide said as he looked down to where she had landed.

"What? Ya know it's not a big deal now, I kinda want to enjoy what I can do now. Even if it's not that big of a risk." Victoria said lightly shoving at Ironhide's lower leg, even though she was woken up in pain she was in a pretty decent mood, after all, she had woken up next to him, she still wasn't exactly a morning person but being held as she was when she woke up today had a way of putting her in a decent mood. "Ya know, I wonder if he could use a bit of help cleaning up, I know it was a disaster area in there last night."

Ironhide gave a huff at her statement "What, you'd actually offer to help clean up? Since when?" he asked.

"I said I wonder if he could use some help, not that I intended to be the help." Vic said giving Ironhide one of her pretty unreadable glances.

"Yea, funny, you ain't draggin' me into that one." Ironhide said as he stood before looking down at the redhead, Vic smirked a bit before moving to start climbing up Ironhide's leg, he simply picked her up as she did so and placed her on his shoulder "Save you the trouble." he said as she got her balance.

"What trouble? Not like ya ain't worth the climb." she said as she looked to him with a small smile, so maybe that was a bit of a corny reaction but she didn't really care, she couldn't be a sarcastic smartass all the time after all, at least, not with him.

* * *

She wasn't about to back down from a challenge, Sunstreaker said he wanted a rematch and she certainly wasn't going to refuse another race, she had won the last one due to her, one more, neglecting to mention the fact she had NoS on board and a customized engine, Sideswipe had also neglected to mention that fact to his twin so Sunstreaker was surprised when her bike hit over 200 miles an hour. The redhead figured the yellow twin would go all out this round though, which she didn't mind a bit, she preferred a challenge.

"So then, same mark?" Vic said as she looked over to Sideswipe and Suntreaker, they were racing along that pretty much abandoned road once more, the old, decrepit gas station was two miles from what they had chosen as their starting point, plenty of space to get up to full speed.

"Yea, and don't expect me to hold back this time fleshy." Sunstreaker said, earning himself a glare from the redhead.

"Call me that again and ya gonna wake up with jackass airbrushed across your hood." Victoria warned as she revved the engine of her cherry red Honda Shadow, she heard a slight chuckle come from Sideswipe.

"She'll do it bro, I'm warning you." Sideswipe said from alongside his twin.

"She doesn't have the nerve." the yellow autobot said.

"That's it, jus' wait for it boy, ya gonna regret those words." she said as she clicked on the radio on her bike, turning it up when she heard what came on, Fuel, what a suiting song "Count down Sides."

"Alright. Three. . ." Sideswipe began, Victoria lowered her posture on the bike as she looked ahead, a smirk on her lips, she loved when she was able to race against Sideswipe, now she had two who she could race, even if Sunstreaker was just slightly a pain in the ass.

"Two one!" Sideswipe said quickly as he peeled out, seeming to think he was going to catch them off guard and get a head start. Victoria hit the gas as soon as she saw Sideswipe do this, Sunstreaker doing the same quickly after as they began to climb in speed.

//"Ya a cheater Sides, ya know that right?"\\ Victoria sent in a com, she opened a connection with both the twins however, it was a lot easier to communicate this way when racing so she didn't have to yell and could keep more focus on the road.

//"Hey, I counted down, you just didn't say how fast."\\ Sideswipe sent back as he tried to take advantage of his small lead, though Victoria and Sunstreaker got along side him rather quickly.

//"Heh, I'll remember that next time wheel feet."\\ Victoria sent as she opened throttle on her bike a bit more, the Shadow gained speed faster than her old goldwing had, partly due to it's sleeker design.

//"Whatever tire killer."\\ Sideswipe sent back as he also picked up speed, matching Vic's velocity rather quickly.

//"Let me show the two of you how it's done."\\ Sunstreaker sent over the connection as his engine revved, Victoria then saw the yellow corvette gain speed suddenly, the sound of his engine showing that telltale sign that he had activated a NoS boost.

//"Oh yea? Watch and learn boy."\\ Vic sent before moving her thumb to the small silver button on her handlebar and hitting it, her bike lunging forward as the nitro hit the engine, her speed gaining as the scenery around her blurred from the speed, the sound of the wind roaring around her, the speed, the freedom, she was still fond of this feeling. She heard the same sound denoting nitro use come from Sideswipe's engine as she lowered herself against her bike as much as she could to cut down wind resistance, seven seconds, that was the most time her engine could handle with the NoS boost before blowing out, it was plenty of time to gain speed, she pulled ahead of Sunstreaker, only slightly at first before her lead grew. She felt the adrenaline surge through her, her heart rate quickening, time feeling as if it slowed around her, she pushed harder, opening the throttle fully as she gained a four car length lead before she had to let up on the boost, she couldn't help but smirk, traveling 210 miles an hour down the road, the sounds of the wind, the radio and engines, this was what had drawn her to her sport, why she loved street racing and why she still wouldn't give up the hobby.

Then the unexpected happened, she felt the pain in her chest, sudden, stabbing pain from the spark next to her heart, she tensed, trying to keep from losing control of the bike, she swerved but managed to avoid going too much off course //"Something's wrong."\\ was all she managed to send through the communications link to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as she began to squeeze the brakes, she couldn't try to stop too fast, doing such would be a disaster, but she had to stop before the pain overcame her ability to control the motorcycle. She heard the two behind her hit their brakes as she managed to bring her bike to a stop after some distance, once at a complete stop she brought her hands to her chest, trying to bite back the pain as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker parked next to her, one on either side and rather close. She closed her eyes as a pained growl came from her lips. Why was it so intense? Why now? Normally it only occurred when she was resting, it had always woken her up, this was the first time this phantom pain had came while she was awake.

"Vic, you alright?" Sideswipe asked as the redhead doubled over where she sat on her bike, she couldn't help that she had begun to lean to the side a bit until she felt the balance of both herself and her bike become impaired, she brought a hand out to stabilize herself, placing it against the frame of the nearest autobot's alternative mode, lucky for Sunstreaker it was her right hand she had moved to lean against him and not the metal infused one so his precious paint job wasn't going to end up scratched.

"What's wrong with her?" Sunstreaker asked.

"I don't know, never seen her like this." Sideswipe answered, Victoria had neglected to mention the pains to him, she didn't want for him to worry as she knew he tended to do at times. "Victoria, are you going to be OK?" the silver autobot asked when he hadn't gotten a response.

Victoria gave a slight nod as a final wave of pain hit her, causing her to growl out in pain once more before the sensation began to fade just as quickly as it had began. "Yea. . .Yea. . .don't worry bout it Sides. . .I'm a'right." she said once she was able, glancing over to Sunstreaker's alt form before she righted herself on her bike, removing her hand from the yellow autobot's frame. "It stopped. . . Sorry bout that Sunny." Vic said, knowing he likely wasn't too happy about a handprint on him.

"It's alright, not like it's a scratch." Sunstreaker stated before continuing "What was that all about?" he asked.

"Happens sometimes, Ratch says it's nothing to worry bout, but damn was that bad timing." Vic answered.

"So wait? This isn't the first time it's happened? Why didn't you say something to me?" Sideswipe inquired, Victoria looked towards him as she sat up, the unpleasant after feeling in her chest ebbing.

"Didn't wanna worry ya Sides, it's nothing threatening. Spark does it once in a while, not certain of the cause, Ratch thinks it may be 'cause of stress, but I haven't been stressed lately." she said.

"Vic, you're like a little sister to me, you need to tell me these things, I just want to make sure you're alright." Sideswipe said, a small sigh following his statement.

"I know Sides, jus' eh, ya know how I am by now." Vic stated.

"Yes I do, you're stubborn as the pit and have a bad habit of hiding things from people who care about you. Does Ironhide know about this?" the silver autobot asked her.

"Yea, he knows, goodness knows he's been woke up cause of it enough." she responded.

"Maybe we should get back just to be safe." Sunstreaker suggested, the redhead looked towards him before looking back to Sideswipe, she then just sighed in annoyance.

"I'm a'right, really, it stopped." she told them.

"And it might start again, come on, get in, I'm not taking the chance of it happening on the way back." Sideswipe said as he pulled forward enough to open his door. "Sunny, think you could secure her bike so we can get it back home?"

"Really, I'm a'right to drive." she said as she saw a holoform appear next to Sunstreaker's alt mode, it was identical to Sideswipe's in almost every way except for the clothing, which was black jeans with a yellow shirt, and his hair was tipped with bright yellow as opposed to the white that Sideswipe's holoform had. Sunstreaker's holoform began to move towards where she was on her bike.

"Not after that, you're riding with Sides, I'll load up your bike." Sunstreaker said.

"Not taking the chance Vic, either get in or I'll activate my holoform and put you in." Sideswipe said.

Victoria gave a defeated sigh hearing that "Two against one, figures." she said as she got off her motorcycle as Sunstreaker's holoform grabbed it by the handlebars and began to guide it to the back of his alt mode.

"When it comes to something like this, yea." Sideswipe said as the redhead moved to his vehicle form's open door, she got in and took a seat as the door closed.

"Ya worry too much." she said as Sideswipe started his engine one more.

"And you don't worry enough, at least when it comes to your own safety." Sideswipe told her.

"I been this way since ya met me, what makes ya think that'd change now?" she responded as they turned around to head back to the Tranquility base. Sure, she didn't even really know why this was happening and, in truth, it was worrying her, but there wasn't anything she could really do about it that she knew of.

* * *

It seemed she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping, she had gone to just take a walk around the base for a bit when she saw light from the partly open med bay door. She began towards the door and stepped inside, sure enough Ratchet was up and about, busying himself with reorganizing his repair equipment.

The redhead leaned against the doorframe "It's three in the morning Ratch, though you'd be in recharge at this time." Vic said as the medic turned to look towards her.

"I would say the same to you, insomnia keeping you awake again?" he asked as he motioned for Victoria to come in, the medic had long since given up arguing with her about her unhealthy sleep patterns since she refused to use sleep aids due to the risk of dependency majority of them held, besides, even with her insomnia she was able to function properly , she just slept a lot longer when she was actually able to rest. She walked up and moved to climb up onto one of the counters within the room.

"Yea, as always, had to be careful not to wake up Ironhide this time, goodness knows he gets dragged out of recharge enough because of me." she said as she got to the top of the counter and took a seat. "What bout you? I know ya got a habit of forgoing rest when things need to be done but looks like ya jus' keeping' yaself busy right now."

"I just have a lot going through my processor right now." Ratchet said as he went back to reorganizing "Sideswipe told me you had an issue with your spark once again, why didn't you come see me about it?" the medic asked.

"Ya said there's nothing that can really be done bout it, didn't see a reason to bug ya with it, besides, I was a'right after it stopped hurting." the redhead responded.

"Yet it occurred during the day this time, a change the previous pattern, you need to let me know of changes like that as it rules out it being caused by you being overly stressed." the medic said as he looked towards her, setting down the tools he was reorganizing and walking over to where Victoria was sitting "The only cause I can assume considering that it occurred while you were awake is that it is reacting to the distress of another, but yet we know you have no sibling or creation bond and you and Ironhide are not bonded, at least not that I am aware of." Ratchet said, raising an optic ridge at her when he said the last part of that statement.

"We're not Ratch, my spark is inaccessible due to my human nature, remember? There is no way we could bond, besides, we haven't even considered attempting yet, don't wanna rush things ya know?"

"As I had thought, that is what is so perplexing about it, unless an unexpected bond occurred when your spark was formed, I do not know why you would be having these pains."

"Ratch, what about my spark forming was expected eh? Think bout that for a moment."

"Very true, and Stormflux had been put into stasis lock when the machine activated without anyone attacking her."

Victoria's face grew rather serious as Ratchet said that, she shook her head "Ya not suggesting that some kinda bond between me and the deceptibitch formed, are ya?" she asked.

"I would certainly hope not but it may be a possibility. Stormflux did vanish from the transport after all."

"Yea, still trying to figure out how she pulled that crap off. Man, I really fucking hope that ain't the case, I do not wanna be connected to a damned decepticon in any way, shape or form."

"Being connected to one of them does not change your standing Victoria, that insignia on your arm shows where you have chosen to stand, a bond that was beyond your control will not alter your choice."

"I know that Ratch, trust me, nothing would change the fact y'all are family to me far as I'm concerned. Just having a sibling or creation bond to a 'con would be a bit fucked up." Victoria said before giving a small sigh. Was it really possible that some kind of bond formed between her and Stromflux? She knew about the different kinds of bonds now, Ratchet had explained them to her when the spark pains had first begun due to her curiosity.

"Don't let it bother you Victoria, besides, we have no confirmation right now. Though I will ask that you avoid going for your joyrides until we figure this out, Sideswipe said it happened when you were on your motorcycle, though you were able to regain control you may be unable to next time." Ratchet said, provoking an eye roll from the redhead.

"I won't lose control of my bike Ratch, don't worry bout that." she said.

"Need I remind you how many times you have had to repair that motorcycle in the last few months?" the medic said, raising an optic ridge at her once more.

"A'right, point taken, damned worry bot." the redhead said, raising her hands in a gesture of defeat.

"You are still human Victoria, you must remember that. Your reinforced skeletal structure may lessen bone injury but your organs can still be damaged as easily as any human. That is why I worry so much considering your rather reckless tendencies." the medic stated.

"I know Ratch, I'm human with some cybertronian qualities, but ya should know by now that, while I may be reckless sometimes, which I will not deny, that I am pretty good at what I do."

"Perhaps, but I've had to tend to your injuries enough since you're been here to also know that you don't always have things under control."

"I'm not gonna win this argument, am I?"

"Likely not, to be honest."

"Damn." Victoria said before giving a slight chuckle, she knew the medic's concerns were not unfounded, but she still didn't like it. Time had taught her, however, that he only asked such of her out of concern and always with proper reason, she just had to accept that and not throw it back in his face. She was blunt and sarcastic but she wasn't a total bitch, they had all seen through that act by now even if she did still act like one when she felt it was needed. Besides, she had fought alongside the autobots and now technically was one by her own choosing, they had at least earned her respect after all was said and done, the least she could do was show them some respect in return, even if she did give them a hard time.

Ratchet turned to go back to what he had been busying himself with though Victoria couldn't help but smirk, she hurried and stood up before leaping from the counter and landing on Ratchet's back, climbing up so she could sit on his shoulder. "Ya mind a bit of company while ya doing. . .whatever it is ya were working on?" she asked.

Ratchet looked over at her for a moment before shaking his head, a slightly amused expression on his face due to her antics, most of them had gotten use to her randomly jumping on them and climbing up by now though Ratchet, Sideswipe and Ironhide were her more common targets. "I do not mind Victoria, perhaps you would like to help me, a few of my tools still have powder in them due to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's little prank."

"Sure Ratch, though ya gotta admit, they did get ya good." the redhead said with a bit of a smirk, it was true, they had rigged a container of powder on the ceiling and it had busted as soon as the light was turned on, sending baby powder all over the med bay and Ratchet, she even had to admit that rigging it to go off when the light came on was pretty clever.

"Yes, they also remembered exactly why playing pranks on me is a bad idea." Ratchet said as he moved to the table, lifting her from his shoulder and placing her on the table where some of the tools he had yet to clean were set.

"Wrench to the head I'm guessing?" Victoria said as she moved to grab a rag so she could help Ratchet out. Just how those two had gotten their hands on that much baby power was beyond her.

"Precisely." the medic said as he lifted another of the tools to begin cleaning it, Victoria had to give him credit, he was normally a pretty calm guy but when someone crossed Ratch they learned that doing so was a mistake rather quickly, the medic had also proven to have rather good aim with a wrench, as Sideswipe and a few others could attest to.

* * *

**Authors note:**

_A little bit of a slow start before confrontations begin, basically letting ya'll know what developments there had been since the last part. Didn't want to dive right into the fray too fast but a certain decepticon is making her way in that direction._

_Thank you to those who have reviewed, sadly this chapter isn't very long due to me being a bit ill but I am starting to feel better so I should be able to pull off more for the next chapter._

_Til next time ya'll._


	3. Accursed Bond

This drive, this calling, it wouldn't stop, it was like a beacon to the decepticon, calling her, pulling her this way. Stormflux was following that feeling that had taunted her for months, she was getting closer, she could feel it, whatever it was that was calling her was near, maybe she would find peace soon. She drove, tearing down the road at breakneck speeds, no city traffic to slow her down, it was so close and the feeling had only grown stronger. She had made it into California, near the coast at this point, this feeling in her spark was her fuel, her guide.

The road turned but she didn't follow, she just kept going straight, whatever it was that she had come for was ahead, there was no mistaking it now. She made her way over the terrain, she could see a slightly worn path across this stretch of land, someone traveled here frequently she was sure of it! She began to follow the worn path, turning as it did, veering into an opening in the trees, she looked ahead, able to see a small beach ahead as she quieted her engines, she felt her spark grow warmer as she approached, but it did not pain her this time, she could sense a bonded spark nearby and suddenly she knew what had lead her here.

Suddenly she stopped, she had seen movement, the femme found a small opening in the trees she could hide herself in, she was the predator here, if her prey was ahead she did not want it to know she was coming. Once she had gotten deep enough into the overgrown nook in the tree line she cut off her engines, her holoform activating. That was one thing she had to admit about the holoform, it's small size made sneaking about much easier for her. Her holoform made it's way through the overgrowth quickly, staying among the trees as she made her way towards the beach. She didn't know if her prey could feel her presence as she could feel it's but her holoform didn't sustain injury at least and her real form was far enough to give her at least something of a head start if they weren't alone.

She made her way to the edge of the trees, she could see the beach clearly now as well as see those who were on it. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the bright red hair she noticed immediately, next to the redhead was a dark haired man who had his arm wrapped around the human. Stormflux could see the familiar topkick with the autobot insignia proudly displayed on the tailgate parked next to the rock the two were sitting on. ~So it was her, that disgusting human did survive!~ the femme thought to herself, so her prey wasn't alone. The decepticon assumed the male was the autobot's holoform. Stormflux couldn't resist the grin that came to her holoform's face, all of the decepticons knew that the human once had the allspark fragment in her throat but none of them mentioned this. The affection was obvious in the two's actions, they were holding each other as they spoke, it was sickening! A cybertronian taking a human mate? What a disgrace!

Stormflux watched them for a bit, she couldn't attack, sure, the human was lightly armed, the energon sword she had seen the girl use in the battle was visible as was a smaller weapon strapped to the redhead's thigh. but that wasn't what she was worried about, if she attacked now that autobot would put her into stasis lock without a second thought, the femme had seen how ruthless the autobot weapons specialist could be, she did not want to chance that right now. Though there was more than one means of achieving an end, her alternative form was well out of view, if things got bad she would be able to flee and she hadn't used her holoform around either of these two before, just maybe it was worth a shot, deception had its uses after all.

The holoform closed her eyes for a moment as sunglasses formed over her eyes to hide their crimson color from view, the decepticon insignia on her shirt fading from the garment, she had to be careful if she was going to do this. She then began to move forward, at the very least she had to find out why she was being drawn to this pathetic human, she could always plan an attack later when she wasn't being guarded by an autobot.

* * *

They had retreated to that hidden beach to escape the chaos that was Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's most recent prank, it was great to see those two were having so much fun but after a week of it both she and Ironhide needed a little peace and quiet, the redhead had been content just leaning against Ironhide's holoform, an arm around her as she rested her feeling arm around his back. Before this beach had just been an escape for her but now it had become a retreat for both of them, the other autobots knew the location of this little getaway now but none of them dared to disturb them when they came here, they had made it clear that this was their hiding spot for a reason and when they were here they did not want to be bothered unless there was a damned good reason for it.

It wasn't until Ironhide looked behind them that Victoria's attention was drawn from the breaking waves, she looked back as well to see a woman on the beach, long blue hair with purple streaks and a tan, and in Victoria's opinion, overly revealing outfit, dark sunglasses perched on the woman's nose, this was the first time in all the years the redhead had visited this beach that anyone had shown up but she figured it wasn't impossible, after all, she had found this spot by simply exploring, someone else finding it in the same way wouldn't really be too surprising.

"Can we help ya?" Vic asked the woman, her tone wasn't abrasive or anything, after all, why should she be upset at someone who had simply happened onto the area much as she had a few years back.

"I'm not disturbing you am I? Just figured I would come down here and watch the tide come in for a bit." the woman said, giving a bit of a smile, Victoria tilted her head a bit, something about the woman's voice was vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place it.

Victoria looked towards Ironhide for a moment, she opened a com connection with him //"Never had anyone jus' show up out here, we can move locations if ya want."\\ she sent.

//"Vic, that girl ain't human, I never saw Stormflux's holoform in person but NEST had captured video surveillance when she activated it to attack them. That's her."\\ Ironhide sent back.

//"Oh, well that's jus' fucking great. I wonder where her alt mode is, can't be too far. So, what do we do? She ain't attacking yet but I don't wanna take the chance of her friends showing up and us ending up outnumbered."\\ she sent to Ironhide as she watched the decepticon's holoform approach, she noticed that her spark was feeling a bit warmer now but no pain came //"Babe, my spark's reacting to her being so close, this is starting to freak me out a bit, to be hones'\\ she added.

//"That shouldn't be happenin', we need to get you out of here."\\ Ironhide sent before he spoke to the decepticon's holoform, not letting on that he knew what she was. "Don't worry bout it, we were just bout to leave." he said as he and Victoria moved to stand.

"No reason to leave on my account, you two looked pretty comfortable when I walked up." Stormflux said, yes, that was certainly Stormflux's voice, Victoria recognized it now.

"Nah, we should head out, got things to do." the redhead stated as she began to move towards Ironhide's topkick form, his holoform following right behind her, both of them keeping their eyes on the decepticon's representation before they saw it dash forward to stand in front of them.

"No, really, I insist." Stormflux said with a grin "No reason to play games is there? Your reactions said it all, but I'm not here to attack, if I was you would have known it by now."

Ironhide's holoform disengaged as he transformed, a cannon coming online to point at the holoform as Victoria brought her hand to the energon sword's hilt at her hip, it was a holoform which could be deactivated at any time and she knew it but she still didn't want to be unprepared if it did try to attack. "What the fuck do you want deceptibitch? Ya kind ain't exactly known for dropping in for a friendly chat." Victoria said as she saw the holoform remove it's sunglasses, letting them drop to the ground before they simply vanished.

"Who said I was with them anymore? Did you stop to think that maybe I changed my mind?" Stormflux asked.

"I ain't buyin' it, considerin' your little act a moment ago." Ironhide said as he kept the cannon aimed at the holoform.

"Why should we believe ya? Sorry if I sound skeptic but ya were being jus' a lil' too sneaky for my tastes." the redhead said as she kept her gaze on the holoform, she didn't like this "How the fuck did you find us?" she asked.

"I couldn't just walk up and announce myself, where would be the sense in that, trigger happy here would have blown me to bits." Stormflux said pointing over her shoulder to Ironhide "Don't tell me you haven't felt it, I could feel your presence from half way across the country, you have a spark now, what are the chances? I just happened to be unfortunate enough to be the one it was created from."

"You're lying. I am not connected to you." Victoria said as her eyes narrowed, she began to pull the blade from it's sheath when she heard it.

::"Don't act so shocked, I was the only one near you when that device activated, you are a part of me human.":: Stormflux sent to the redhead without even opening a com connection. Victoria narrowed her eyes, she was furious at this situation. She pulled the blade from it's sheath fully and lowered her stance.

"Stay the fuck out of my head bitch." she warned, the anger clear in the redhead's voice. She did not like being sent any kind of message by a decepticon, especially without her having a choice about it.

//"Calm down Vic, we gotta figure this out."\\ Ironhide sent her before speaking "So, you wanna talk, start talkin' but you do not wanna provoke us." the weapons specialist stated, his tone making it clear he was not messing around.

Stormflux grinned a bit "Wouldn't dream of it." she said, the sarcasm obvious in her voice. She looked towards the redhead for a moment, she seemed to be hesitating, after a few seconds the decepticon finally spoke once more "Not sure what you know about bonds, but this feels like a creation bond, technically, by cybertronian standards, I'm your mother." the decepticon stated, a smirk coming across the holoform's lips.

The redhead's eyes narrowed, that statement just struck a nerve, how dare that bitch even speak that word? "My mother died a long time ago." Victoria said as she charged forward at the holoform, bringing the energon blade up for a strike, how could she stay calm with that? The decepticon had no right! Victoria's mother was dead and gone, buried in a graveyard in Texas, no one had any right to claim her place, especially not a decepticon!

//"Vic, stop."\\ Ironhide sent her as she brought the blade down towards the holoform, Stormflux dodged to the side as Ironhide's words were ignored, the redhead was pissed right now, her reasoning, her logic, it was gone, Stormflux had crossed the line with her statement and Victoria wanted nothing more than to tear into her.

Victoria lunged forward towards where Stormflux had leapt to, the sword up, ready to strike before she felt Ironhide's hand around her, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her back from her target, "I guess you don't want to talk then." Stormflux said as her holoform flickered, fading from existence.

Victoria looked towards Ironhide, pushing his hand away from her "Why did you stop me?" she near yelled at him.

"Because it won't do any good fightin' her holoform, you can be injured, it can't. You wanted to know why those spark pains were happenin' didn't you? Talkin' to 'er might of offered some answers!" he said, his voice returning the abrasive tone.

"She had no fucking right to say what she did!" Victoria said as a sound nearby drew her attention, what she saw caused her to raise her blade once more as Ironhide raised his cannons to aim, it seemed Stormflux had decided to show her true form. "Back for another fucking round bitch?" Victoria said as she kept her eyes on the decepticon, seeing the femme had her weapon raised as well.

"You know, I was going to try just talking, but perhaps a more forceful approach is needed." the decepticon said.

Ironhide stepped in front of Victoria upon seeing the decepticon's aim was on the redhead, his cannons humming, a clear sign he was not messing around "You ain't touchin' 'er." Ironhide said.

Victoria really wished she had her cannon with her at this point but she hadn't had a reason to carry it around as of late. //"We can't go back home until she's dealt with, if she found me through that damned bond then it'll lead her right to the base, and ya know well as I do she'll call her buddies with the location."\\ Victoria sent to him as she lowered her stance, yes, he was guarding her, she disliked it but she understood it, however if a fight did break out she was going to be ready to for it.

Sure enough, the redhead was not disappointed, Stormflux opened fire, Ironhide took the missile blast before his cannons flared to life ::"I'm coming for you fleshling.":: she heard Stormflux send to her through that accursed bond, she would curse her luck for ending up in any way bonded with a decepticon, but right now was not the time.

"Stay out of my fucking head!" Victoria shouted since she didn't know how to respond via the bond. Ironhide had begun firing already but Stormflux was as fast as ever, she ducked and weaved, avoiding the incoming cannon fire, the decepticon firing back, Victoria made a dash towards the rock she normally sat on, ducking behind it for cover as a missile impacted the ground not far from her, kicking up sand and smaller rocks in the area, she pulled the sensor disruptor from it's holster at her thigh, her sword kept in her left hand as she held the defensive gun in her right. She looked over the boulder, taking aim at the femme and opening fire, Stormflux dodged the disruptor blast but ended up in the path of one of Ironhide's shots in the process, the blast from his cannon meeting with the decepticon's shoulder and pushing her slender frame back before she brought her missile launcher to aim at the weapons specialist, Stormflux rushed forward, that speed boost she had shown to have kicking in as she ended up right in front of Ironhide, she leapt as she came upon him and landed a kick to his chest with both feet.

Ironhide stumbled back a bit before right out grabbing at the femme, he was larger and stronger, Victoria couldn't imagine what Stormflux was thinking when she decided to get that close but it gave Ironhide an advantage. Ironhide grabbed Stromflux's arm and flung her to the side, discharging a cannon after her, the decepticon landed and sprung to her feet, barely avoiding the blast.

"This is getting us nowhere." Stormflux stated before she transformed into her alternative form and fled, Ironhide fired a few shots after the femme before he powered down his cannons and looked back towards Victoria as she sheathed the energon blade and holstered the disruptor.

"This is jus' fuckin' great," the redhead said as Ironhide walked up to her and leaned down to be nearer eyelevel.

"What were you thinkin'? She wasn't attackin' until you took the offensive." Ironhide asked her, he still sounded slightly agitated.

"She had no damned right to force a damned message to me, she also had no right to even fucking suggest being anything like a damned mother. OK, so maybe attacking her holoform was a bit stupid, but ya know what? She kinda struck a nerve! Besides, she's a damned decepticon, you've said yaself that the truth was in the name." she said, her eyes meeting Ironhide's intense gaze.

"Yea it is, but you put yourself in danger!" he stated.

"Yea, like she was jus' gonna hang 'round and chat, lemme tell ya."

"We could of at least got a few answers first."

"We got enough answers, I have some kinda bond to a damned deceptibitch and had no choice in the matter, and she followed the bond here. Meaning she's going to know where the base is and put everyone at risk."

"We've been fightin' 'em for a long time Vic, if they come we'll handle 'em."

"GAH! Ya don't get it do ya? If what she said is true I'm a fucking beacon to her, that base is our home, we can't jus' lead her and her decepticon buddies to it!"

"I get it, trust me." Ironhide said before standing fully once more, he gave a sigh as if he was trying to calm down so he didn't add fuel to the fire, if it was one thing both of them had learned by now it was that their arguments could spiral out of control quickly if one of them didn't calm down, normally it was Ironhide who had the sense to calm the situation first because Victoria was simply unreasonable when she was mad. The weapons specialist looked down at the redhead "We'll figure it out, we gotta let the others know." he said.

"Yea, heh, ain't they jus' gonna have a field day findin' this shit out! This is jus' fucked on so many levels." Victoria said as she leaned against the rock she had taken cover behind moments ago.

"You can cut her from findin' you through it, you just have to learn how." Ironhide said.

"Yea, easy for you to say, it's instinctual for ya, for me, it's still pretty damned new." Victoria responded with, she heard another sigh come from Ironhide.

"Vic, just calm down alright, you bein' mad ain't gonna help matters any." he stated.

Victoria lowered her gaze, shaking her head slightly, he was right and she knew it, she couldn't think worth a damned when she was angry and she really did have a habit of just making things worse when she didn't calm down. She stood silent for a moment before giving a heavy sigh of her own and looking back up towards Ironhide "A'right, so, how do I do it? How do I cut off contact with 'er? Cause I'd rather not risk going back to the base until I can be sure she can't follow us there." she said.

"It's gonna take time Vic, let's move, she might have already sent this location to the others, don't wanna risk an ambush with you around." Ironhide stated as he stepped back and transformed into his alternative mode, his driver side door opening.

"Yea, good point, probably better if ya let the others know, to be hones', I'm still a bit too pissed to explain it." the redhead said as she moved to climb into the driver's seat. They drove off as Ironhide opened a com to Optimus to explain, he sent the connection to Victoria as well but she opted to remain silent and just listen, right now, anything she would say would likely come off offensive and she knew it, it was better not to chance it.

* * *

She lost the argument, again, Ironhide had even needed to calm her down once again when she started yelling, the redhead's temper truly was beginning to get out of hand. They had returned to the Tranquility base and informed those who needed to know about the occurrence before Victoria retreated to one of the rooftops to just think. She needed space right now, time to work everything out in her mind, her being here was like giving the decepticons the exact coordinates of their home, if Stormflux could sense her then It was basically an open invitation for attack.

Perhaps taking the offensive against Stormflux had been a stupid move, maybe she really was there just to talk but what the femme had said, comparing herself in any way to the mother Victoria had lost it, even suggesting anyone at all could ever claim such a title, is was simply infuriating. The redhead had a feeling she had given the decepticon exactly what she wanted, a reaction. Why had she let herself be so easily provoked? She should have more sense than that, lashing out in anger without thinking was the kind of thing that got people killed, sure she had always been a risk taker but she normally thought out those risks before charging forth.

Victoria gave a heavy sigh, looking up towards the sky as dark clouds began to roll in "Heh, how suiting." she commented to herself as she watched the nearby trees begin to sway in the breeze.

//"Vic, a storm's comin', you better get down from there."\\ she received the communication from Ironhide before she stood.

//"Yea, I'm coming."\\ she sent back as she took a last glance towards the incoming clouds before moving to climb down the pipe along the side of the building, sliding down it to the ground before making her way towards the lounge area, it had been where she last saw Ironhide so she figured, if a thunderstorm was rolling in, she had better get to him.

As she walked in she saw Ironhide standing there talking to Ratchet, she walked up to his side and placed a hand on the weapons specialist's lower leg, normally she would climb up to his shoulder but right now she simply wasn't in a playful mood, she could have gone without the thoughts that had cropped up and the anger that she was still trying to push down.

Ironhide looked down feeling her hand on his leg "Feelin' any better?" he asked.

"I'll get back to ya on that one." the redhead replied as Ironhide brought his hand down to lift her from the ground, right now emotions where a bit tense, they had gotten into a pretty major argument once they had gotten back to the base earlier, Victoria had become rather abrasive and, with how she and Ironhide were, they had gained the attention of half the autobots before they stopped yelling, it was then that she had retreated to the rooftop. She didn't know if he was still upset with her but she had a feeling he as at the least still a bit agitated, even though he lifted her to his shoulder his mannerism was slightly different towards her right now, then again she couldn't exactly blame him, she had been well out of line with her temper.

The redhead settled on the weapons specialist's shoulder before he returned to talking to Ratchet. "Are you sure bout that Ratch?" Ironhide asked the medic.

"Yes, Bumblebee has picked up activity in the area. He doesn't know who yet but they are certainly moving." Ratchet answered. Victoria tilted her head slightly, it wasn't hard to guess what kind of activity he was talking about and if that was the case then it was only a matter of time.

"I need to know how to block her from the bond." the redhead interjected "If I don't then Stormflux will follow it right to our front door."

Ironhide looked over to her a moment but didn't say anything, she figured he must still be mad at her by that reaction, she would have to apologize to him after this chat was done, she had been in the wrong after all.

"You will need to learn how to access the bond first, but considering that you managed to learn how to use internal communications, you should be able to do it. With time of course." Ratchet stated.

"How many of 'em has Bumblebee picked up?" Ironhide inquired.

"Only three, so far, it is safe to assume one is Stormflux, the other two however, we have no way of knowing until they show themselves." the medic replied.

"Or if we find 'em first." the weapons specialist said.

"Now Ironhide, you know as well as I do that trying to hunt them down without knowing exactly where they are never ends well." Ratchet reminded him, this getting a huff from the black mech.

"It's better then sittin' round and waitin' for 'em to come knockin'." came Ironhide's retort, the redhead on his shoulder sighed, shaking her head a bit.

"If I can jus' block 'er from the bond before she can pinpoint the base it'll give us more time, if she ain't already figured out the location. Then again, knowing my damned luck. . ." Victoria began before she heard the first thunder crash from the storm that had been moving in, she tensed when she heard it, clinging onto Ironhide's shoulder with a death grip. "Fuckin' thunder. . ." she said under her breath.

"It will take time Victoria, but I'll offer any help I can. Since you have no experience with bonds it will be more difficult." Ratchet said.

"Time we might not have." Victoria responded before hearing the thunder again and hunching down a bit where she sat. She never had gotten over her fear of thunderstorms. After a moment Ironhide brought his hand up to where she was on his shoulder, placing his large fingers on her arm, she looked over to him before sighing, moving to place her hand on the horn like part on his head as she opened up a connection to the weapons specialist //"Sorry bout earlier, by the way."\\ she sent him.

//"It's alright, just don't make it a habit. I like fightin' but not like that"\\ Ironhide sent back.

//"Ya know I can't make any promises, but I'll try."\\ she responded.

//"That's all I'm askin'"\\ he sent before Ratchet pulled their attention once more.

"If that's the case, the we'll just have to be ready, Bumblebee is keeping an eye on the situation, he'll report any developments to Optimus." the medic said.

"Good, if they think they can catch us off guard then they got another thing commin'." Ironhide said as he moved to lift Victoria from his shoulder when another roll of thunder shook the walls, he brought her to his chest where she immediately clung as he held her there.

"I am inclined to agree." Ratchet said as he watched Ironhide and the currently scared redhead, the medic just shook his head "You have no problems when it comes to attacking a decepticon yet you become a quivering ball when you hear thunder. I give up trying to understand you Victoria." the medic stated.

"Shuddup, I jus' don't like thunderstorms." the redhead said as she held onto Ironhide's chest plates, she knew he was just giving her a hard time but it still didn't remove the fact she completely hated weather like this.

//"I'll try to help you understand how the bond works Vic, but I can only help so much."\\ Ironhide sent to her through the still open connection as she felt him run a finger down her back, a gesture that normally helped her calm down during storms.

//"Thanks babe, I jus' don't want to be the reason our home is found."\\ she responded.

//"You won't be, even if that decepticon does use the bond to find us, it ain't your fault, you didn't want to have a creation bond with that femme."\\ Ironhide sent back, Victoria just sighed as she closed her eyes.

//"I know, still hate it though."\\ she replied as another crash of thunder caused her to tighten her grip on Ironhide's chest, he simply held her there, this storm was only temporary after all and she was both glad and thankful he wasn't too upset with her to provide the comfort she wanted right now.

* * *

Would this storm ever end? Three hours and the lightning still kept lighting up the converted warehouse, the electricity had cut out and Victoria was wishing more than anything that the storm would pass. Ironhide had transformed into his topkick form some time ago, his holoform active and they had been sitting on the sofa, Victoria hated that the thunder scared her so but she was glad he was there for her. It truly was such an irrational fear, but was it really the thunder itself she feared or the memories that it brought to her mind?

She pulled closer to the holoform, her arms wrapped around him as she sat nearly on his lap, he had been holding her for at least a half hour now. She felt his hand slide down over her hair once more as she rested her head against his shoulder, burying her face in the crook of his neck to at least not see the flashes of lightning, though there was no way to block out the noise.

"You got to stop doin' this." She heard Ironhide say as he tightened his grip around her "I ain't bout to argue with a reason to hold you but you're a wreak when there's a storm."

Victoria couldn't help but give just a slight smile "I know, wish I could jus'. . ." she paused a moment, tensing slightly as another roll of thunder echoed throughout the room ". . .jus' get over it but it's not that easy." she finished.

"Why not?" Ironhide asked.

"I a'ready told ya, PTSD, the storms, they trigger it." she said as she seemed to be trying to get as close to his holoform as possible.

"There won't be any tornadoes here Vic, you ain't gotta worry bout that."

"I know that. But I can't help it, it's easier said than done."

Ironhide gave a sigh at that, moving his hand to rest at her back "Slaggin' human disorders." he muttered.

"Heh, tell me bout it, it's a pain in my ass." the redhead said before holding him tighter for a moment as thunder rolled once more.

Then, as luck and bad timing would have it, a communication to all the autobots came through from Bumblebee //"Guys we have a problem, I have Stormflux on my tail, there's one of them in the air too but not sure who, a little help would be nice!"\\

//"Transmit your location to us Bumblebee, Prowl, Sideswipe, Ironhide, meet up with him and provide backup. Bumblebee, is Sam with you?"\\ Optimus's voice came over the connection.

//"Yes, him and Mikaela, I'm trying to outrun the decepticons but Stormflux is fast."\\ Bumblebee responded.

//"She got speed boosters Bumblebee, be careful."\\ Ironhide warned //"We're on our way."\\

Victoria looked right to Ironhide as she heard the message "I'll get my cannon." she said before moving to rush towards the smaller weapons locker, pulling it open and reaching for the launcher styled photon pulse cannon and her smaller side arms as she saw Ironhide's holoform deactivate. Ironhide had transformed to open the warehouse door as she followed him out into the rain, the downpour was torrential right now, wind howling through the nearby trees, Victoria once more mentally cursed the bad timing as Ironhide folded into his alternative mode once more and opened the driver door. Victoria got in, more or less jumping when lightning lit up the now night time sky.

She saw Prowl, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker ready to go as well, she would have figured Sunstreaker would go with his twin, him and Sideswipe had been inseparable since he arrived, where Sideswipe went, he went much like how where Ironhide went, Victoria did also. Ironhide joined the group and they began towards where Bumblebee's current location was, the rain pounding down on Ironhide's windshield as every time lightning lit up the sky Victoria tensed. Perhaps going towards a battle when she kept jumping at every lightning strike or sound of thunder wasn't the best of ideas but she was not going to stay behind while Ironhide was fighting.

It wasn't long until they met up with Bumblebee, the yellow autobot was fleeing full speed from the blue femme that pursued him. Prowl, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker transformed while moving, Sideswipe's blades came out instantly, Sunstreaker's doing the same right after as they lunged at the ground based decepticon, she transformed right before they collided with her and jumped back, barely avoiding two blades.

Prowl soon had a decepticon to deal with himself as Skywarp swooped down from above, the tactical officer ducked as he raised his weapon to be ready to deal with the attacker. Ironhide came to a stop as Bumblebee skidded to a halt besides him. Victoria didn't need to be told to get out and give Ironhide space, she knew the routine by now and exited his cab, moving back as the weapons specialist transformed into his true form, his cannons coming online instantly as Bumblebee transformed next to him, Sam and Mikaela ran to join the redhead where she stood.

"Vic, stay with 'em, we'll deal with the decepticons." Ironhide told Victoria as he and Bumblebee moved to help Prowl fight off Skywarp.

"If your aft so much as gets knocked down I'm opening fire, jus' so ya know!" Victoria called to Ironhide before turning to Sam and Mikaela as she adjusted the cannon that was slung over her shoulder "Jus' stay behind me and be ready to run." she told them as she pulled the cannon down onto her shoulder so she could be ready to fire at a moments notice if needed.

"What do you think they're after this time?" Mikaela asked.

"Yea, they have to be after something, right?" Sam also inquired.

"Well 'ell if I know, ya guess is good as mine. Revenge maybe?" Victoria said as she watched the battle taking place, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker made a damned good pair in battle, then again she supposed that shouldn't be surprising even if Stormflux was faster then they were, together they were holding their own against the femme pretty well despite her speed boosters and larger size. Prowl, Bumblebee and Ironhide were doing rather well against Skywarp as well, even though all of them were slipping due to the wet ground, the rain beating down on them mercilessly, lightning lit up the darkened sky once more, the redhead actually flinched as the thunder was heard, she was very thankful that she was keeping her finger off the trigger right now, she would be very prone to a misfire if she hadn't.

"Stormflux say anything before chasing y'all or what?" Victoria asked, her voice was shaky right now as she tried to keep herself calm considering the weather conditions.

"No, we were heading home and she just started chasing us." Mikaela answered.

"We have got to. . ." Victoria began before she saw a missile coming towards them from the side, she spun around and aimed her cannon at the incoming projectile, opening fire and hitting her mark, the explosive detonating before it got too close. Through the sheets of rain she could barely see the outline of a black decepticon against the night landscape, lightning flashed once more, causing Victoria to tense again, her hands shaking just slightly but it gave her a chance to see the black femme who had her weapon aimed at them, she stood only about 9 feet tall. "Sam, Mikaela, find cover!" she shouted back to the two behind her.

"What about you?" Sam asked.

"Don't worry bout me, jus' go damnit!" she shouted back, not once did she take her eyes off of the new opponent, it wasn't too big so, if she played her cards right, she might be able to at least hold the new femme off. Victoria barely heard the footsteps as Sam and Mikaela ran for the only thing that even resembled cover right now, the redhead watched the new femme for a moment and for just that moment it simply stood there, looking right back at her.

The sounds of the nearby battles nearly blended in with the next crash of thunder, Victoria tensed once more, her aim compromised for just a moment, and it was that moment the new enemy made it's move. The dark decepticon rushed forward, firing another missile towards Victoria, the redhead leapt to the side, rolling across the muddy ground before landing on one knee, she aimed at the small femme and opened fire, the blasts from the photon cannon lighting the ground beneath them as they sailed through the air, the femme dodged two of the blasts, the third catching the missile launcher and ripping it from the decepticon's hand but this served to be no deterrent.

The femme rushed right at Victoria, the redhead barely had time to get to her feet, leaping back to avoid a strike as she took quick aim and fired her photon cannon at the femme, it only hit the attacker's shoulder but it was enough to at least push the decepticon back. Victoria pushed her cannon into it's slung position as she went for the energon sword at her hip "Ya wanna go melee? I can do that!" she said as she slashed at the decepticon's incoming hand, the blade cutting into the enemy's palm before Vic ducked a second attempted swipe, she jumped forward, bringing the energon blade over her head with both hands before sending it down towards the decepticon's abdominal region, the black femme jumped back to avoid the blade, the tip catching the hip joint of the black decepticon in the process.

The dark femme gave a hiss at the injury as Victoria lunged forward once more, aiming a horizontal slash at the nine foot tall decepticon's legs, the femme took a quick step back before bringing a leg around for a kick, Victoria lowered her stance quickly to duck the blow before she charged at the leg the femme had all her weight on, bringing the blade to bare as she swung for the limb. The femme growled as the sword bit into metal, causing a decent sized gash to form, sparks from the contact flying only to meet the heavy rain and be extinguished.

Lightning lit up the sky once more, Victoria jumping from the flash, a reflex for her which soon proved to be a grand mistake as the femme make another strike towards the redhead, Victoria tried to dodge by leaping to the side but she wasn't fast enough, her moment of reacting to the lightning had proven a larger issue than one would think. The redhead barely had time to bring her left arm up to take the brunt of the strike as the metal of the femme's forearm made contact, sending the much lighter human flying back.

She landed on the ground heavily, the breath being knocked out of her as the energon blade fell from her hand, sliding a few feet away from her. Mud covered her clothes, face, hair, you name it but right now getting dirty was the least of her worries. "OK, that hurt." she said as she moved to try and sit up, she was certainly going to feel that in the morning. The femme had wasted no time, she was upon the redhead before Victoria knew it, the redhead tried to grab for her energon blade, reaching for where it had landed, she had just barely gotten her hand on it's hilt when the femme's foot came down on her left arm, at this moment Victoria was rather glad the metal covered arm had no feeling because if it did, that would have just hurt like hell.

"Not so fast little one." the decepticon said as Victoria tried to pull her arm free.

"Get the fuck offa me glitch!" Victoria shouted before rolling over the best she could with her arm pinned as it was and reaching for the sensor disruptor with her free hand, she moved to aim it at the femme before the decepticon simply knocked the weapon from her hand, Victoria gave a growl in a mixture and pain and anger as the force behind the hit to her arm bruised the tissue. The femme began to reach down, her foot still trapping the redhead's left arm and keeping her from using her blade.

"I'm not done with you yet human." the decepticon said.

"Oh yes you are!" came Sunstreaker's voice from the side, the decepticon looked up just as the yellow mech swung one of his arm mounted swords at her, the femme jumped back to avoid the attack, Sunstreaker's blade cutting into her shoulder as the other autobots made their way towards them. Victoria grabbed her sword now that her arm had been freed and hurried to her feet, sheathing the sword and pulling her cannon down onto her shoulder as Sideswipe, Prowl and Ironhide came to stand behind where she and Sideswipe were. A look of realization came across the decepticon's face for just a moment before she began to run, dodging weapons fire from Ironhide, Prowl and Victoria before she transformed into her vehicle form, a black sports bike, and took off. Victoria kept firing for a bit before finally ceasing fire and switching off her weapon, pushing it back into it's slung position and moving to pick up her sensor disruptor from where it fell, holstering it.

"Welp, we know who the other two were now, well, who one of 'em is least, I ain't got a clue who that bitch was." Victoria said before looking at her left arm, the skin was a good bit torn up and the metal infused with her flesh showed a few deeper scratches but the damage could have been a lot worse, the moist and thus softer ground had saved the limb from major damage.

"I know who she is, her name is Flamewar, she is small but do not underestimate her ability." Prowl said.

"Well, maybe you can fill us in once we. . ." Victoria jumped once more as another bolt of lightning cut through the sky ". . .Once we get the fuck outta this damned storm." she finished her statement as Bumblebee joined them with Sam and Mikaela in his hands.

"Are you two alright?" Sideswipe asked Bumblebee's charge.

"We're good, we weren't fighting." Sam said before he looked towards Victoria "Are you OK Vic? I saw you get thrown."

"I'll heal, jus' a few more scars for the collection, not like they'll be noticeable." The redhead said before she looked to Ironhide "Hate to say it, but ya seats are going to get a bit muddy on the way home." Vic said as she flung a bit of mud off her arm, she was filthy right now, her hair was plastered to her face from the rain and the mud that was clung to it, her clothes were soaked with the stuff, she looked like she just crawled out of a mud pit.

"Long as you help clean it, you're a mess." Ironhide said.

"Geeze, thanks, love ya too babe." she said, Ironhide gave a small chuckle as he transformed into his topkick form, opening his door for her "Come on, lets get you out this weather." he said, Victoria gave a small nod, moving to get in as the others also transformed, Bumblebee setting down Sam and Mikaela before making the change for them to get in. Victoria tried not to get mud all over inside Ironhide's cab but that was proving difficult, she was covered in the stuff right now. She began to inspect the damage to her arm a bit more closely as they began on their way home, Bumblebee following them with Sam and Mikaela, it was likely better that they stayed at the base tonight, at least there would be no shortage of backup there though Victoria couldn't help but wonder just why the decepticons attacked them tonight, she figured it was simply for revenge, but why wait so long?

* * *

**Author's note:**

_OK, so this update took me a bit longer than I planned, sorry bout that, but hey, least it was still near the week mark eh?_

_Yea, Vic's in a bit of a messed up situation here, dude, I do not envy her at all, having that kind of link to a decepticon, man that sucks! Also the newly brought in character, Flamewar, she's not a highly known character, she is a canon however (From the Transformers: Timelines comic) so just thought I'd let ya'll know she's not an OC, she's just not too well know._

_Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter and til next time ya'll!_


	4. A different kind of war

Why had they run? Stormflux was sitting inside of some too small cave in one of the cliff sides in the area, she, Flamewar and Skywarp were tending to the damage they had acquired in their little fight against the autobots. They had retreated and Stormflux didn't like it, they showed weakness, three of the humans were right there, the one they were after and his mate, and then the added bonus of that loud mouthed little redhead, why didn't they just grab them when they had the chance?

Stormflux pushed one of the rocks near where she was sitting across the cavern "Why the pit are we sitting around here? We know they're in the area, what don't we just go after them?" the blue femme said, this sitting around was annoying her to no end.

"Now now Stormflux, after the attack last night do you really think they aren't watching right now? It doesn't do us any good to attack them when they expect it, no, that wouldn't do us any good at all." Flaremwar said as the smaller femme stood. She had taken command over this little scout group of their's, Stormflux knew Flamewar was one of Megatron's most loyal but she simply couldn't stand the fact that the little femme was calling the shots in this mission.

"So what? Do you suggest we give them time to prepare for next time? In case you have failed to notice, backup arrived pretty quickly. Flamewar, I know where they are, I have already told you this." Stormflux stated before she heard a chuckle come from the smaller decepticon.

"Oh yes, that little creation bond you have to that human. The human you've failed to kill a few times already, if I didn't know any better I would think you had some kind of attachment to the little pest." Flamewar taunted, Stormflux's fists balled as she gave a sneer.

"Don't you dare suggest I care about that thing, it can lead us to the autobots, that's all it's good for. I want it dead, after it has served it's purpose."

"How quaint, you want to kill it before Megatron destroys this world, save it from the pain then?" Flamewar said with a grin, she was fishing for a reaction, Stormflux knew it.

"No, actually, I just don't want to be connected to something so disgusting if you must know. Sooner that thing is dead the sooner I won't have to deal with feeling it's existence. So, what do we need that boy for anyways?" Stormflux asked, Flamewar was getting on her last bit of patience, and the blue femme was never known for patience to begin with.

"Like I know? Megatron said he wanted the human alive so I'm going to deliver the fleshling to him, that's all there is to it." Flamewar stated as they heard Skywarp move from the wall he was leaned against.

"When do we make a second attempt?" Skywarp asked.

"In time Skywarp, let them think they're safe for now, a false sense of security does wonders." The black femme said as she looked out from the opening of the cave, Flamewar had a plan, Stormflux knew that, as annoying as the smaller femme was, Flamewar always had a plan.

* * *

The previous night's storm and battle had left all those involved in the skirmish rather filthy, once the electricity had been restored the humans had showered but the mechs who had been involved in the fight were having a bit more difficulty so Sam had brought up the bright idea of helping them out via water hoses since it wasn't too cold today. It all spiraled down hill from there, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had grabbed a pair of water hoses themselves and were currently harassing Prowl while Mikaela, Sam and Bumblebee were having a little water fight of their own. It was a rather amusing sight, though the water hoses were like squirt guns to the cybertronians it didn't stop them from using them.

Victoria was still helping Ironhide get a bit of the filth from his legs, for her it wasn't too much of an issue to get to those little nooks and crevices where mud had managed to get wedged during the fiasco the night prier, the job was pretty much done if only Ironhide would stop twitching when she hit the sensitive spot behind his knee joint.

"Cmon, if ya keep moving away I won't be able to get the mud out." she told him as she moved to swipe away a bit of the crud that was in the joint.

"Can't help it." Ironhide said as he flinched again, Victoria just gave a small sigh, shaking her head a bit as she tried once more, managing to get a decent amount of the filth off him this time.

"Hey Vic, Ironhide!" Sideswipe's voice pulled their attention, both she and the weapons specialist looked towards him at that point and the redhead saw quite a mischievous grin on the silver mech's face as Bumblebee, Mikaela, Sam and Sunstreaker all stood besides him all with their water hoses aimed at the redhead and Ironhide.

"You better not." Vic said right before they began spraying water at her and the black mech, getting them both completely drenched. "Ah nah, now it's on." Vic said as she brought her water hose up as well, turning the nozzle to jet setting and squirting right at Sideswipe.

She heard Ironhide give a bit of a huff "I'll be right back." Ironhide said as he turned to walk off, water from the assault of the others splashing off his back. Vic glanced back towards him before she felt water hit her in the back of the head, she looked back to where Bumblebee was standing, the water hose in his hand aimed at her, the redhead just smirked a bit before aiming for the autobot scout and spraying towards his face, his battle mask came down to block the jet of water.

"Oh, now that's jus' cheating 'Bee." Vic said as she ducked a spray from Sam, she countered with a stream of water sent right towards Sam as the others hit her with water, Victoria couldn't help but laugh a bit "Hey, stop teaming up on me!" he said as she tried to get Sideswipe with a stream of water.

After a moment the others paused and were looking at something behind her, Victoria turned around to see Ironhide had come back, though she grinned when she saw what was in his hand. It was a fire hose, she knew there was a hookup on the side of one of the buildings but she hadn't expected Ironhide to go for that.

"Let me show you how it's done." Ironhide said before opening the nozzle with his thumb, Vic glanced towards the others as she saw Sunstreaker get hit with the massive stream of water from the fire hose before he moved to get Sideswipe and Bumblebee, Victoria turned her aim on Sam and Mikaela seeing as Ironhide couldn't use the massive hose on them due to water pressure, she began spraying at the two as the water that splashed off of the mechs near them also served to effectively soak them.

"Come on man, there's only one of those hoses, that's not fair." Sunstreaker protested as he brought his hands up to block the water from his face.

"Five against two ain't fair either, I evened the odds." Ironhide said as he sent a jet of water at the fleeing Bumblebee, the scout ducked behind a wall for cover and stuck his arm out, spraying towards them blindly and effectively hitting his own teammates in the process.

"Careful 'Bee, you're hitting the wrong people." Sam called out to his guardian, though there was laughter in his voice as Vic took the opportunity to get Sam right in the face with a spray. "Hey!" he exclaimed before starting to try and hose Vic down.

They were all beyond soaked right now, after a few moments Ironhide finally turned off the fire hose and the others ceased the water war as well. The black mech leaned down a bit so his head was near Victoria "Now that's how you win a water fight." Ironhide said, the redhead looked over to him to see the smug look on his face.

"Ya got that right, good thinking with that hose." she said as she heard Ironhide give a small chuckle.

They heard the door to the med bay open at that point, Ratchet stepping out with his arms coming to cross over his chest "Just what is all the racket out here?" the medic inquired though he was soon answered when Sideswipe and Sunstreaker turned their water hoses on him and let loose, the medic quickly ducked back into the med bay and closed the door.

"Oh come on Ratchet, has old age made you forget how to have fun?" Sideswipe called out to the medic.

"Hey!" Ironhide said before Sideswipe looked back at the black mech with a nervous smile.

"No offense Ironhide." the silver autobot said as Ironhide opened the fire hose nozzle for just a moment, hitting Sideswipe in the chest with a blast of water before shutting off the stream once more. Sideswipe gave a laugh at that "OK, I deserved that one." he said.

"He might be a bit aged but hey, some things jus' get better with time." Victoria commented as she moved to stand besides Ironhide, placing a hand on his lower leg. Ironhide looked at her a bit, the expression on his face hinted that if cybertronians could blush, there was a good chance he would be doing so right now.

//"Where do you come up with those kind of comments?"\\ Ironhide sent her via a private communication.

//"Ya didn't think my skill for quick comebacks was only good for sarcasm, did ya?"\\ she sent back in response. She knew Ironhide was up there in age even by cybertronian standards, she had been told a while back that he was the oldest of the autobots on Earth and, possibly, the oldest of the remaining cybertronians in general, considering the fact that they had no way of knowing how many were left alive in the universe. Certainly it could seem a bit odd that someone as young as she was and someone of his age and experience were together but she would rather not dwell on the fact, they were happy together, that was what mattered after all, besides, it's not like she wasn't of legal age and the fact they were from two different worlds, literally, was more shocking than an age gap from hell.

Ironhide moved to lift her from the ground, Victoria discarded the water hose she had been using to the side before he stood and brought her to his shoulder, Victoria just gave a small smile and brought her hand to rest on the side of his head as he leaned his head into the touch slightly.

"Great, they're getting all mushy again over there." Sunstreaker said before being met with an elbow in the side from Sideswipe "Hey! Watch the paint bro!" Sunstreaker protested.

"Ya got a problem with us showing affection Sunny?" Vic asked, though her tone just dared him to say something against her and Ironhide's actions.

"Hey, I'm just picking on you two, but if you're going to get too touchy you might want to get a room." Sunstreaker said, a smirk coming to his face before his twin looked right at him.

"You don't want to say that Sunny, trust me, you might get a response you don't want." Sideswipe warned, giving a small chuckle.

"I am not even going to ask what you mean bro. I have a feeling I would regret it." Sunstreaker said, Victoria gave a small smirk, she remembered when Sideswipe found out more than he wanted to know when he made a comment of the same sort, she still remembered how funny the silver autobot's reaction had been.

Victoria simply shook her head, it was tempting to send a message to Sunstreaker to inform him exactly what Sideswipe was referring to, just to mess with him and see his reaction, but she was still trying to get along with the conceited twin, after all, she still had an airbrushing across his hood that she owed him for his comment when they were having that race.

* * *

It had been a week and they had heard nothing from the decepticons which was certainly a good thing for the time being, her feeling less arm had begun healing up a bit from the damage she sustained in the last battle and Ratchet had already repaired the minor damage to the metal parts of the arm. Of course, that didn't mean the redhead hadn't found something else to occupy her time while things were quiet, besides spending time with Ironhide and just hanging out with the others, she, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had ended up in a bit of a prank war, it had all started three days ago, when Sunstreaker had scared the hell out of her with the old fireworks in a metal trashcan gag. Thankfully Ironhide wasn't in the warehouse when it happened or else there would have likely been real weapons fire following, as payback Victoria had taken to sneaking up on Sunstreaker and using the sensor disruptor on him since it didn't cause any pain, just temporary sensory deprivation. Sideswipe had ended up in the whole fiasco when he got caught by one of the pranks Sunstreaker had set up and now the three were in an ongoing, friendly free for all.

Sumstreaker had gotten Vic good with his last prank, he had set up a huge bucket full of pink paint over the smaller, human sized door of the warehouse she stayed in, she ended up coated in hot pink earlier in the day when she went to go outside due to it, now it was her move. She had waited for nightfall this time, with her insomnia staying up was no problem for her. She had already alerted Sideswipe to her plan and the silver autobot had even let her know once Sunstreaker had fallen deep into recharge.

The redhead snuck into the room where Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's alt modes were parked, she knew Sideswipe was still awake but she didn't want to chance waking up Sunstreaker. In her hand was a large bottle of acrylic paint, neon pink of course, and a paintbrush, if Sunstreaker wanted to bring paint into this little war she was going to show him just how you use paint in a prank war.

She moved in carefully, going towards Sunstreaker's driver side back door, where she knew what she painted would be visible when he was in his true form, but right where he wouldn't see it himself. //"Careful Vic, don't wake him up."\\ Sideswipe sent her, the redhead couldn't help but smirk a bit, glancing over to where Sideswipe was parked at as she opened up the bottle of paint.

//"I'm trying not to, it shouldn't take too long. Ya said this part will be visible, right? Folded against his back if I remember what ya told me."\\ she sent in response as she dipped the paintbrush in the opened bottle and moved to begin writing her little message.

//"Yea, he won't even know it, kind of like those kick me signs you got me with."\\ Sideswipe responded, the redhead had to stop herself from snickering at that, Skidz and Mudflad had a field day with that one, she even had to help touch up the paint on Sideswipes legs because of it.

//"Ya still gotta admit I got ya good with those."\\ she sent through the com to Sideswipe as she painted on Sunstreaker's door, making sure the sign was large enough to be highly noticeable, as if it being neon pink wouldn't make it easy enough to spot.

//"Yes you did, but I'm still going to get you back for it, just wait for it."\\ Sideswipe replied, he had been staying completely still where he was, where it not for the fact he was talking to her via a communications connection even she wouldn't be able to tell if he was awake or asleep.

//"Ya better make it worth it Sides, that's all Imma say."\\ she sent as she grinned a bit, she had already gotten the words written but would it really hurt to add a few, more embarrassing designs? She dipped the brush in the bottle once more before beginning to paint little flowers and bows on Sunstreaker's door, complete with a few stars just for the fact she could.

//"Oh he's going to be so mad when he finds out what's painted on him, you better be ready to run. Also, you know I'll make it worth it, remember who you're talking to Vic."\\ Sideswipe responded.

//"Oh, I know exactly who I'm talking to, I have to say the superglue on the door handle was a pretty good one, but too easy to figure out."\\ Vic sent as she finished up Sunstreaker's driver side back door and quietly moved around to his other back door, beginning to paint a different message there, currently very thankful the yellow twin seemed to go into recharge heavy.

//"Of course it's easy to figure out when you use your energon sword to cut the knob off the door!"\\ Sideswipe said as she heard a bit of a chuckle come over the com.

//"Hey, I did what I had to do, it worked eh?"\\ she responded as she finished up the last of the second door and picked up the paint bottle before making her way towards the door out to exit the room.

//"Can't wait to see his reaction when he finds out, or even better, the other's reactions when they see that. He is going to hate you for this Vic."\\ the silver autobot stated, Victoria could tell he was snickering.

//"Oh, I jus' wish I could train a video camera on him tomorrow, this is going to be classic, better than kick me signs."\\ Vic said as she left and began to make her way to the warehouse she and Ironhide stayed in, she had gotten up while Ironhide was still in recharge, careful not to wake him since painting on Sunstreaker's door wasn't going to take long.

//"I'll be with him most of the day, I'll let you know how they react."\\ Sideswipe sent over the private com.

//"Good, Imma go get some sleep so I don't miss the comedy, night Sides, thanks for letting me know when he was in recharge."\\ Victoria sent to the silver twin. The redhead couldn't help the grin on her face as she made her way into the converted warehouse and back towards the bedroom, tomorrow was going to prove entertaining, she knew it now.

* * *

Victoria had actually looked forward to waking up today, mostly to watch Sunstreaker's little paint issue unfold. She had made her way to the lounge with Ironhide, much to her surprise and pleasure Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were there talking to Optimus. Victoria couldn't help but smirk seeing that Sunstreaker seemed rather oblivious to the two messages he was wearing on his back, even half way across the room they were highly visible. Ironhide seemed to have noticed them as well if the look he gave the redhead was any indication.

//"Remind me not to upset you if you got paint around."\\ Ironhide sent to her via a private com, Victoria's smirk became a full out grin at that.

//"Hey, he asked for it, after all, ya don't bring paint into a prank war less ya know how to use it."\\ Victoria sent back before trying her best to contain that guilty grin.

She just watched them for a bit, Sunstreaker was totally clueless as to what his back was broadcasting to everyone who saw it, surprisingly Sideswipe seemed to be keeping cool about it even though he knew full well about the little signs. After a while Sunstreaker and Sideswipe turned to leave, Sideswipe grinned at the redhead for a moment as they passed by. In the process of leaving Sunstreaker's graffitied back was exposed to Optimus as the yellow twin just continued on his way out, not even seeing the raise optic brow and expression on Optimus's face. The twins left and Optimus looked right at the redhead perched on Ironhide's shoulder, that guilty grin on her face certainly prevented any claim of innocence.

Optimus opened his mouth to say something before pausing for a moment, as if he was thinking of just how to word his reaction, Victoria just snickered as Ironhide brought a hand up to lightly nudge her in the side a bit playfully though not nearly enough to compromise her balance as they heard the lounge door close from the wheel footed twins' departure.

"Revenge is best served in pink? Do I truly want to know where you came up with that?" Optimus finally spoke, Victoria just couldn't contain the chuckle.

"Did you see what the other one said?" Victoria asked.

Optimus nodded at that "Yes I did, though I do wish I hadn't." the huge blue and red leader said.

"I swear Optimus, I ain't had any part in this." Ironhide commented.

"I figured you didn't. So, we have three pranksters to deal with now instead of just two." Optimus stated though Vic could almost hear the chuckle in his voice.

"Hey now, I only do revenge pranks, I don't start it but I sure as 'ell finish it." Victoria said in her defense, though she just couldn't wipe the grin off of her face.

"You know he is going to be furious when he finds out." Optimus told her.

"Well I'd be disappointed if 'e wasn't, 'specially with how much Sunny likes to bitch 'n moan bout any little scratch on his paint job." the redhead said.

"So just what brought this about?" the huge mech asked.

"Well she ended up covered in pink paint yesterday, guessin' that got somethin' to do with it." Ironhide said, he knew first hand about that prank, after all he had seen it happen and also had activated his holoform afterwards to help her pick paint out of her hair for about three hours, they had gotten most of it but some was still stick in her hair and proving stubborn.

"Hey, 'e wanted to bring paint into it, I'm jus' showing 'im how it's done." Vic said.

"Just don't let it get too out of hand, we still don't know if the decepticons are still in the area or when they might attack again." Optimus reminded her.

"Trus' me, I know, nah, this is all jus' in good fun, ya should know if the shit hits the fan I ain't going to let a little prank war distract me." Victoria stated.

"Just a concern. Have you been able to cut off the bond with Stormflux?" Optimus asked.

"Nah, I been trying but I jus' can't access it 'cept sending messages to tell 'er off, might be too late." Vic said, the joyful expression leaving her face, she had been trying but every time she did it sent a pain through her spark. Stormflux had sent taunting messages to her through the bond a few times, every time she had let Optimus know about it but that was about it. She had learned how to return a message, normally telling the decepticon she was shared a creation bond with to stuff it but that was the extent of her ability with the bond right now.

"Keep trying Victoria, if you can use the bond to communicate then you have some access to it." Optimus told her.

"Yea, jus', I'm trying, it ain't working yet but I'm trying." the redhead said.

"You'll get it Vic, just give it time." Ironhide said, the redhead gave a small half smile as she moved to run a hand along the protrusion on the side of his head right as the lounge door opened and Mudflap and Skidz came in, doubled over in laughter.

"Vic, yo ass better run girl, Sun is pissed!" Mudflap said.

"Yea, he ain't happy, but Primus girl! How yo came up with dat!" Skidz said the best he could through his laughter.

Only seconds later Sunstreaker became visible in the doorway, Sideswipe skated up right behind him and grabbed onto his twin's arm to prevent Sunstreaker from storming in. The yellow twin's optics narrowed at the redhead as he pointed at her. "It's on. And no, I don't wax my aft!" Sunstreaker said before turning from the door and skating off in a hurry, Sideswipe let his twin go before he leaned against the doorframe to support himself as he busted out laughing.

"Vic, you should have seen his face when Ratchet told him what was written on his back, better yet, you should have seen Ratchet's reaction when he had to read it off to him!" the silver autobot said, the grin returned to Victoria's face at that, she couldn't help but laugh now as she held onto Ironhide's shoulder to keep her balance.

"Hey, he started it." The redhead said before Ironhide just raised an eyebrow at her before shaking his head.

"Well, I can't say he don't deserve it." the weapons specialist stated.

"Yo man, 'ow long you think it gonna take 'im to get that off?" Skidz asked as he looked towards the still chuckling Sideswipe.

"I don't know, I'm probably going to have to help him, but Primus was it worth it." The silver bot said as he glanced towards where Sunstreaker had stormed off to, Sideswipe stood from where he was leaning against the door frame "I better go find him and calm him down. He can dish out pranks but he still can't take them too well." Sideswipe said before pointing at Victoria "I still owe you, by the way." he said.

"Bring it wheel feet." Vic said in jest.

"I plan on it tire killer." Sideswipe responded with a chuckle before turning to go hunt down his twin. Victoria and Sideswipe's pranks on each other didn't really get too serious, they were completely in good humor and both of them would laugh about the pranks afterwards, Sunstreaker on the other hand seemed to up the stakes each time, she would have to be careful so they didn't go too far, then again Sideswipe was pretty good at playing peacekeeper between the redhead and his twin, it just seemed they were sort of testing each other's limits right now, Vic didn't mean any hostility towards Sunstreaker but he was just so wrapped up in his looks, of course that's what she was going to use against him in some of the pranks, he just made it his paintjob such an easy target.

"Are you sure this won't get out of hand?" Optimus asked, drawing the redhead's attention, she could see the slight smile on the leader's face even though he did pretty well keeping it from showing too much.

"It shouldn't, if it does Imma put an end to it." Victoria stated.

"I hope you can." was all Optimus said in response.

Victoria gave a small smirk "Don't worry, I got it." the redhead said as she looked over to where Mudflap and Skidz were, they hadn't started their normal bickering and fighting yet, they seemed too busy snickering about not only this prank but a few of the others they had witnessed which had occurred during the little war.

//"Remind me how I ended up with a prankster."\\ Ironhide sent Vic in a private com.

//"Because I don't pull the pranks on ya maybe?"\\ she sent back.

//"Yea, maybe that's one of the reasons they don't bug me."\\ Ironhide responded.

//"Plus, there's a perk to it, if they tell me bout a prank they wanna play on ya, I can warn ya bout it."\\ the redhead sent over the private com before she saw a slight smirk on Ironhide's face.

//"I can think of a few other perks too."\\ he sent her, the redhead blushed slightly.

//"Don't start that."\\ she sent back.

//"I'm not startin' nothin' you're the one who took it that way."\\ Ironhide responded.

//"Well knowing how ya are, how else ya expect me to take it? Am I wrong?"\\ she asked over the connection.

//"Maybe, maybe not."\\ he sent.

//"OK, that's jus' wrong."\\ she responded before she heard Ironhide give a small chuckle, she wasn't really sure who used the connection to mess with who more, while she often used it to send suggestive messages to the weapons specialist to get a reaction from him, he normally used it to make comments that could be taken out of context and left her wondering just how he meant it. She was just thankful about the fact that whatever they said via the communication connection was only heard by them, otherwise blank and awkward stares from those around them would be rather common.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_Thank you to my reviewers of the last chapter, glad ya'll enjoyed it!_

_I decided to have a bit of fun with this chapter. Yes, a prank war, a three war free for all even if they will temporarily team up on each other. I HAD to have the graffiting of Sunstreaker's doors, for those curious, since the exact wording likely won't be mentioned in the story, the second 'sign' she painted on him was "Did I miss a spot last time I waxed my aft?", hey he covered her in hot pink paint, she had to get him back for it! Also, Yes, Ironhide went overkill in the water fight, fire hose for the win! We all know Ironhide can be known to go a little overboard with some things, I figured him grabbing a fire hose would be right in line with his personality._

_Even though this chapter is a lot of fun, and was honestly a lot of fun to write, there is that serious undertone, the decepticons are still very much around and they knew right where the autobots' home is now, it's not a matter of luck it's just a matter of time. Flamewar is, canonly, a pretty smart femme, and she does have a plan, you'll just have to wait and see what it is though._

_Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, til next time ya'll!_


	5. We weren't born to follow

The prank war had kept raging but Victoria, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had called a temporary truce after their last fiasco, it have been almost two months since the redhead had graffied Sunstreaker's doors and things had just continued to grow more intense since then. She knew Sunstreaker was plotting revenge on her for her last prank but they agreed it was better to give it a small break to let everyone involved calm down so they didn't go too far. This was also giving Vic time to try and understand the creation bond she shared with Stormflux to try and block the decepticon out of it. Her last attempt had been infuriating, due to her now actually attempting to interact with the bond she could sense Stormflux's proximity, she couldn't tell exactly where the femme was but she could tell the decepticon was still in the area. Thankfully one thing Victoria had managed to do was block Stormflux from sending her unwanted messages, it was small but it was progress.

The redhead had decided to just relax a bit after her earlier frustrations with the bond, she was just lounging around the base, sitting on top of one of the rooftops again, though on that of an unused metal storage shed, one of the lower roofs that was only about fifteen feet up instead of her normal choice of the highest place in the base. She had dragged her small radio up with her this time and had it playing one of her mixed CDs, it wasn't as if she was trying to hide this time, like she normally did when she retreated to a rooftop. This time she had just wanted to relax for a bit, the weather was slightly cooler today and it was honestly a nice late afternoon, even someone like herself could appreciate a day like this.

She had just been laying on the roof, watching the clouds roll by and listening to her radio, the redhead smiled upon hearing the next song that played was We Weren't Born to Follow, she reached over and hit the repeat button, now this was a song she could listen to over and over again. She had just moved back to laying comfortably before seeing Ironhide walk up to the building she was relaxing on and come to stand at it's side.

"Figured you'd be on a roof when you weren't in the warehouse." he said to her, Victoria gave a small smile as she looked towards the weapons specialist, the rooftop came up only to his chest so she didn't even really have to look up too far to talk to him right now.

"Heh, yea, ya know my habits by now." she responded.

"Yea I do, normally you're up were I can't see you." Ironhide said as he rested his arms on the roof of the shed, thankfully the structure was sturdy enough to support him when he leaned on it a bit. He raised an optic ridge at the redhead "Guessin' you ain't tryin' to hide?" he said.

Victoria smirked a bit "Not this time, was jus' relaxing a bit." she stated.

"Well if I'm disturbin' you. . ." Ironhide commented, allowing the statement to trail off.

"Oh yea, ya coming talk to me's really disturbing me, lemme tell ya." the redhead said with a bit of a chuckle "But really babe, ya ain't bugging me, you should know me better by now."

"Never can tell with you." he said, the joking tone noticeable in his voice.

"Oh, like ya got any room to talk." Vic stated with a smirk as she rolled over onto her side so she could face him, also meaning his arms were within reach, she moved to rest her hand on top of his much larger one and smiled a bit "So, were ya looking for me or jus' happened to see me?" she asked.

"Wanted to make sure everythin's alright." he answered.

"Yea, everything's jus' fine babe, but I don't mind ya company." she said before she saw him smile a bit. He moved to bring his other hand to lightly rest over her where she was laying, his thumb running up and down her upper arm a bit.

"Good. Wanna show you somethin' if you got time." he said.

"I'm chilling out on a roof listening to the radio, I think I got time." she said before Ironhide lifted her from the rooftop and set her one the ground before stepping back and folding into his alternative mode, his driver door opening for her.

"I already got your cannon, just in case we're interrupted, it's in the storage under my seat." he said, Victoria nodded as she climbed in, the seatbelt sliding around her and securing her, though she felt him tighten it around her just slightly for a moment, a small gesture he sometimes did when he felt like being a bit sweet.

Victoria couldn't help but chuckle a bit "A'right babe, so where are we heading?" she asked.

"You'll see." came the response.

"A'right, what ya got planned?" she asked with a small smirk, he was being sweet randomly and being illusive, those two things alone were enough to tell her he was up to something.

"Like I said, you'll see." he replied with a slight chuckle in his voice as he began to drive off, Victoria didn't know just what her sweetheart was up to, after all, it wasn't very often he pulled stuff like this, not that she really minded when he did, truth be told she wouldn't mind if he made it more of a habit.

They were traveling for a decent amount of time, having left the road behind some time ago, they had made their way up onto one of the higher cliffs overlooking the ocean before Ironhide came to a stop and released the seatbelt from around her.

"Don't forget your cannon." he said, Vic nodded and reached under the seat when the storage compartment opened, she pulled out the launcher style cannon before she got out and secured it in it's slung position.

"A'right you, ya gonna transform or ya staying in ya alt mode?" she asked as she stepped back, there was a decent amount of tree cover on the cliff so she figure it would be safe for him to be in his true form.

Sure enough she heard the sounds of gears moving as he began to change into his cybertronian form, once the transformation was complete he looked down towards her "Answer your question?" he said as he moved to take a seat on the ground.

"Yea, pretty much." she said before looking out over the cliff, the sun was low in the sky by this time, the very beginning of the sunset "So, this is what ya wanted to show me?" she asked as she moved towards him, climbing onto his thigh and taking a seat before she felt his hand come around her, pulling her closer to his midsection.

"Not exactly. Jolt was goin' on bout a magnetic storm in the atmosphere, he was worried bout it messin' with NEST's coms, I bugged him bout it." Ironhide answered.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Vic asked.

"You'll see in bout twenty minutes." he said, smirking a bit as the redhead relaxed against his midsection, her arms resting on the hand that was lightly clasped around her. They sat there for a while as the sun lowered to the horizon and the sky darkened, they simply sat there talking while Victoria waited for wherever it was Ironhide had brought her out here for, though she also wasn't minding the time alone with him, since the decepticons had become active in the area again they had pretty much stayed at the small base they called home, it was nice to be away from there for a while, where no one would suddenly knock on the door or need something.

Victoria had remained sitting on his thigh as the sun fully set and night set in, she hadn't even noticed anything out if the ordinary until Ironhide pointed towards the sky. "Vic, take a look." he said as she moved her gaze from him and looked out to where he was pointing.

She paused upon seeing it, never in her life had she seen something like it, what looked like a cloud of color painted the sky, it held no true shape, constantly shifting as greens, reds, blues and every color in between twined and merged, fading from hue to hue seamlessly, the atmospheric light show reflecting on the tranquil, liquid mirror of an ocean beneath it. This show of natural wonder held her gaze for a moment, it was simply beautiful, if she didn't know better she would swear it was a burred version of an aurora but they were too far south for such a spectacle.

"So, what do you think?" she heard Ironhide ask her.

It took her a moment before she spoke "It's beautiful. . .but what the 'ell is it?" she asked as she looked towards Ironhide once more, the colors lighting up the sky reflected off his dark armor, she couldn't help but smile seeing this, it almost looked like a dark, fluid array of dancing colors moving across every reflective surface on him.

"Jolt said it was somethin' called a diffuse aurora, somethin' like that, he said they ain't common this far south but it was probably gonna happen tonight, seems he was right." he answered before smirking a bit and lifting her off his thigh, placing her one the ground nearby before he shifted into his alternative form. His holoform activated almost as soon as the transformation was complete. The dark haired holoform smiled to her as he walked up, coming to stand behind her as he wrapped his arms around her "I thought you'd like to see it." he said before leaning his head to kiss at her jaw line.

"Yea, it is, well, it's definitely something, I'll let ya know what once I remember the right words." the redhead said as Ironhide rested his holoform's chin on her shoulder, having to lean down just slightly to do so due to him standing a few inches taller than her. Victoria brought her feeling hand up to rest on his cheek as she watched the aurora dance along the skyline, she smiled, leaning back against Ironhide's holoform as she felt his arms tighten around her, holding her firmly against him.

"I wanna ask you somethin' Vic." he said as he softly nudged the side of her head with his cheek.

"What's that babe?" she ask as she felt him loosen his grasp around her, he moved so he was standing in front of her, his arms coming to loosely drape around her waist, those brilliant blue eyes of his holoform, eyes which held the same depth as his optics, met her gaze.

He seemed to hesitate for moment, doing something he near never did, he looked away for just a second, biting his lower lip before sighing and looking back to her, his expression showing a hint of resolve. Finally, after the pause, he spoke "Vic, if we can find a way, if there is a way, will you bond with me?" he asked, glancing away for just a moment before returning his gaze to hers. Victoria froze, making sure she heard him properly, it took her a moment to actually confirm, and reconfirm in her mind that he had just asked what she thought he had. Ironhide's expression grew slightly concerned "If you're not ready. . ." he began before the redhead cut him off mid statement by wrapping her arms around his upper body and pulling him into quite a heated kiss, she felt the spark within her chest grow a bit hot but not to the point of discomfort as he tightened his arms around her and returned the kiss with a passion to rival her own.

The aurora dancing in the background as they tightened their embrace on each other was nothing compared to the flood over emotions Victoria currently felt, her spark was pulsing rapidly, it almost felt as if it was going to overload from the emotional energy that surged through it as she held him as close as she possibly could, his arms holding fast to her as he seemed as intent on removing any possible space between them as she was. After a moment they finally parted the kiss, their faces still rather near each other.

"I take it that's a yes?" he asked.

"That's a hell yes." she answered before he moved for another kiss, their lips meeting almost harshly once more as she felt him rather literally lift her up by the waist, holding her to him as they continued their kiss. Neither of them loosened their grasp on the other, if anything they held each other tighter if such was even possible at this point. Nearly a year ago it has been Victoria who had found the courage to tell the weapons specialist how she felt about him, but now, it was Ironhide who had the courage to ask about taking it to the next level. She didn't know how they would manage it, as far as she knew her spark was inaccessible but stranger things had happened, she was living proof of that. They had found a way to get around other issues they faced as a couple, they would find a way around this one as well.

* * *

"WHAT!" Sideswipe's volume made Vic cringe a bit, she knew Sideswipe could be loud sometimes but she was standing right there, she was just glad they were outside so his voice didn't echo off the steel walls.

"Yo, Sides, turn it down a bit, cmon man, I'm not deaf, might end up that way if ya keep yelling like that though." The redhead said, rubbing one of her ears a bit.

"But, when? What? I mean, huh? You're not trying to pull a prank on me, are you?" the silver autobot sputtered out as he leaned down to look at the redhead standing in front of him.

"Ya know me Sides, would I joke about something that big?" she asked and Sideswipe shook his head.

"No, but now I have to ask if you were trying to put me into stasis lock. Couldn't you have at least been a little more subtle with the news?"

"Me, subtle? Did you fry a chip or something?"

"True, but Vic, that's a bit sudden isn't it?"

"Hey, I know bro, but what in life ain't sudden eh? Besides, like I said, he asked me, we still don't know how we're going to manage it so it's not like it's happening tomorrow ya know." Victoria told him, she had expected a jaw drop reaction when she told Sideswipe about Ironhide asking her to bond with him but she thought that, just maybe, her autobot brother was overreacting a bit, that or he was playing it up but Sideswipe didn't get all dramatic too often, at least not with things that really mattered.

"Still, well, least I know he'll take care of you. Who else have you told?" Sideswipe asked.

"Jus' you, we figured, since ya are like a brother to me, it'd only be right we let ya know, jus' keep it quiet for now eh? With everything that's going on and the decepticons being Primus knows where. . ." the redhead paused when she realized what she just said, giving a small sigh "I really gotta stop letting y'all influence my vocabulary, but anyways, with them still in the area without us knowing what they're up to, we're just going to keep it quiet for now, have to deal with the 'cons first ya know?"

Sideswipe nodded "I won't say anything, after all, I don't want to have to try and answer the questions the topic might bring up. So he asked you last night?"

"Yea, I was pretty damned shocked but, well, then or another year from now, I think the reaction woulda still been the same." Victoria said as Sideswipe moved to take a seat on the ground, looking towards her for a moment before just shaking his head, though he was chuckling a bit.

"Well, hopefully you two can find a way." the silver mech said as he brought his hand to give her a slight, friendly push to the arm, which due to the size difference turned out to be a push to the whole upper arm and shoulder, causing Vic to have to drop her foot to the side to keep her balance.

"Yea, I hope so too, chance there might not be a way but, eh, we'll see." she said before she heard another approaching, she looked back to see Sunstreaker was skating right towards them full speed, he came to a rather stylish stop by dropping his hand to the ground and making a full turn before his brakes kicked in.

"We have a problem, 'Bee needs backup, five decepticons, they got Sam." Sunstreaker informed them as he folded into his alternative form.

"Shit, I need to grab my cannon." Vic said as she glanced back to Sideswipe, the silver autobot was just finishing transformation himself.

"Ironhide already got it, we're all going. Ride with Sides, we have to hurry." Sunstreaker said as Sideswipe opened his door and Vic climbed in.

"I knew it was too damned quiet." the redhead said as the silver and yellow corvettes took off, picking up speed quickly as they raced to join the others, every one of them was pushing their engines, everything had broken loose so quickly. Victoria soon heard an incoming com message as a connection was opened to all of them, it was Optimus who spoke first.

//"Flamewar baited Sam with her holoform, Bumblebee said she posed like she needed help, lured him out of Bumblebee's sight, by the time she dropped her signal cloaking it was too late. It happened near Sam's college, Bumblebee followed and was met by four others, that was the last communication I received."\\ the leader informed them.

//"Do we have a lock on the location?"\\ Prowl asked.

//"Yes, transmitting coordinates now."\\ Optimus said as he transmitted the location to the others, though the information meant nothing to Victoria, unlike the others she couldn't process the files like cybertronians could and all she ever got was a mental image of what looked like static.

"Where's the location Sides? Ya know I can't make heads or tails of files." Vic asked.

"About fifteen miles south of Sam's college, very outskirts of town." Sideswipe told her.

"Rural or open land?" she asked.

"Rural, sadly." Sideswipe answered.

"Oh fuck." was all the redhead said before conversation over the connection began again.

//"We know who we're dealin' with?" \\ Ironhide's voice came over the connection as he pulled up right besides where Sideswipe was driving with Vic. She saw Ironhide's holoform activate as his passenger side window lowered, Sideswipe's did the same as Ironhide's holoform passed the photon pulse cannon to her as they moved down the road "You might need this." he said.

"Ya think?" Vic said as she pulled the cannon in through the window, she just saw Ironhide's holoform wink at her before it deactivated and both windows closed again.

//"Flamewar, Skywarp, Stormflux, Starscream and Megatron." Optimus answered as they made their way onto more populated roads, Ratchet's emergency lights and siren came on as the normal traffic began to pull onto the side of the road, giving them a clear path.

//"A'right, so what's the plan?"\\ Victoria finally spoke up over the connection.

//"Victoria, you and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker try to get to Sam and get him out of there, Ratchet, you stay near them, see to any injuries Sam may have sustained. Skidz and Mudflap, Bumblebee may have been captured as well, if that's the case try to get to him and get him free. Jolt, Prowl, Ironhide, I'll need you three to provide backup."\\ Optimus stated as they barreled down the road.

//"Got it."\\ Vic sent over the connection as the others also relayed confirmation, she moved to get her cannon on in it's slung position, doing so in Sideswipe's cab was awkward but she managed. They tore down the streets as they approached the location.

"I hope Sam's alright." Sideswipe said through his sound system.

"Yea, ya ain't the only one. Jus' hope we aren't too late and that him and 'Bee aren't too bad off." the redhead said as she looked ahead, with how fast they were going it wasn't taking long, soon enough they came upon the location, a decently sized construction yard on the outskirts of town, thankfully there were no residential building nearby. As they pulled up Victoria could hear that a battle was already in progress by the sounds of it.

Sideswipe and the others came to a halt and Victoria got out, shifting her cannon on her shoulder as the others transformed, they wasted no time moving towards the sounds of battle within the massive central warehouse, Sideswipe lifting Vic into his hand as he and Sunstreaker skated forward, Ironhide charged forward, not even bothering with opening the door and slamming right through it, it was only aluminum after all and didn't stand much of a chance against a few tons of cybertronian.

The others followed him in, Sideswipe setting Vic on the ground in one smooth motion before charging at the nearest decepticon. The redhead took a quick glance around to get an idea of the situation, Bumblebee was still on his feet and fighting right along side the last mech Vic had expected to see here, Barricade. Both of them had sustained a decent amount of damage but they were relieved by the arrival of the other autobots, Victoria also noted Megatron and Flamewar were nowhere to be seen.

//"'Bee, where's Sam?"\\ Victoria sent the scout as she pulled her cannon onto her shoulder and began firing at Sideswipe's current target, Skywarp. She was waiting for a response from the scout as she aimed a blast at the decepticon's right knee.

Soon Victoria felt an incoming communication but not from who she had expected //"Megatron has the boy."\\ Barricade sent her, Victoria felt her spark go cold hearing those words.

//"Barricade said Megatron took Sam!"\\ the redhead sent over the autobot communication link.

//"WHAT?"\\ came Ironhide's response as she heard his cannons begin to go into a rapid barrage of shots.

//"Take the decepticons down quickly!"\\ Optimus ordered over the communications link as he slammed his sword into Starscream's shoulder, severing the limb from the decepticon's body.

Victoria kept her focus on Skywarp as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker dodged his attacks before countering with their own. Then something else caught her eye above, the redhead smirked. //"Sides, Sunny, when I say move, fucking move, I got an idea."\\ she sent over the communications link as she pushed her cannon into it's slung position and ran towards a latter leading to the next level of the warehouse, a loft like section with the controls to the machines and numerous containers and crates on it. She leapt up onto the latter and began to climb quickly, making it onto the loft and running towards the emergency release for one of the cranes set up inside the building, she barely saw the incoming missile out the corner of her eye and immediately dropped to the floor, landing in a roll //"MOVE NOW!"\\ she warned Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as she hit the release, the item that had caught her eye, a rather large metal container full of goodness knows what, was let free, it pummeled down right towards Skywarp as the redhead looked over the railing to see Sideswipe and Sunstreaker get out of the way before the decepticon realized the impending doom a little too late. Skywarp leapt to the side but he didn't react fast enough, the crate landed right on his lower body and by the sound it made when it hit the ground, whatever the cargo was that it held was damned heavy. She saw Skywarp try to aim at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker from where he was pinned as the twins moved in on the decepticon.

Victoria pulled her cannon back down onto her shoulder and took aim below, trying to get her sights on the decepticon's spark chamber before she heard something behind her, the redhead spun around only to see Flamewar with her missile launcher aimed for her.

"Well hello again." the black femme said before firing, Victoria moved quickly, dropping herself to a crouched position to avoid the missile that flew at her before moving to dash towards the latter to get down. Another missile flew by, hitting the loft in front of the redhead and blowing a decent part of the floor apart, causing Victoria to have to skid to a halt, she turned to see the small decepticon walking towards her.

"Ya wanna dance bitch?" Vic said as she aimed her photon pulse cannon at the femme "Let's dance!" the redhead said as she opened fire, Flamewar leapt up to avoid the blast, leaping towards where Victoria stood as the redhead dashed forward, dropping into a roll as the decepticon sailed over her, Flamewar landed where Victoria had just been standing as the redhead regained her footing and spun around, opening fire on the small femme //"Found Flamewar. . ."\\ Victoria sent the autobots as she dived to the side to avoid another missile before returning fire, aiming for the femme's weapon, Flamewar avoided the blasted and dashed towards the redhead, Vic pushed her cannon into the slung position as she pulled her energon sword free of it's sheath and parried the decepticon's incoming melee strike //"Don't think the loft can support y'all, gonna try an' get 'er on the ground."\\ Victoria finished the message as Flamewar came back for another attack.

//"Be careful Vic."\\ Ironhide sent over the connection, Victoria knew even a glance to see how he was holding up could be disastrous so she kept her focus on Flamewar as she ducked the femme's kick and brought her sword around to take a slash at the decepticon's supporting leg. Flamewar sprung into a back flip to avoid the blow before leaping back and taking aim on the redhead once more.

//"I got this."\\ Vic sent as she gave a smirk, she dashed to the side to avoid the incoming missile and kept running, this loft was a small maze with how many control panels, crates and large metal containers were stored up here, sure she couldn't overcome Flamewar with pure strength but there was something to be said for a little cleverness.

"Ya want me, come find me deceptibitch!" Victoria called to Flamewar as she ducked behind one of the containers. Victoria knew the decepticon likely wouldn't waste any time so she had to move fast, she kept running among the crates and containers, weaving through the haphazardous rows, the stacks were high enough that Flamewar couldn't just look over them. Soon she sheathed her blade and jumped onto a shorter crate, jumping up onto the next stack, she had to get to the top quickly before Flamewar spotted her. She jumped from the crates onto an exposed latter attached to the side of one of the higher metal crates, hurrying to the top before she dropped down, flattening herself against the top of the container so she wouldn't be easy to spot. At that, the redhead just waited.

She didn't have to wait long, soon she saw Flamewar round the corner, the decepticon's weapon held in front of her small, dark frame, Victoria couldn't help but smirk, she watched, keeping herself low against the crate as she reached for the cannon on her back, ready to pull it down quickly, just a few more steps, that was all she was waiting for.

"I do not have time to play hide and seek with you fleshling, just show yourself so we can get this over with." Flamewar said as she looked around, walking forward slowly, cautiously, it seemed this decepticon wasn't as reckless as the others. Finally, the femme moved into just the right spot.

"Ya know, I neva was good at hide and seek, I prefer chess." Victoria announced from her perch on the container as she quickly moved to a kneeling position, pulling her photon pulse cannon onto her shoulder and taking aim at her target, Flamewar quickly located where the redhead was as Victoria opened fire, the shot missing Flamewar, she saw the decepticon smirk.

"You missed." Flamewar stated as she brought her missile launcher up to aim at the redhead.

"Did I?" the redhead said as the place where her shot hit began to buckle and creak, the whole stack of metal containers beginning to lean as the decepticon looked back just in time to see the heavy stack fall as the support gave way. Flamewar leapt to the side to try and avoid the tumbling containers but she didn't move in time, the stack fell in a loud avalanche of metallic groans and clangs on top of the small decepticon, throwing the femme's weapon from her grasp and causing it to skitter across the floor of the loft as the residual metallic rings from the fall began to fade.

Victoria stood with a smirk as she pushed her cannon into it's slung position on her back "Checkmate mother fucker." she said as she jumped down from the containers, landing in a roll before getting to her feet, she walked up to where Flamewar's missile launcher had fallen and picked it up, slinging it over her shoulder as she looked back to the pile of containers that were burying the femme. //"Flamewar's down, not sure if she's offlined or in lock, but she ain't moving, how y'all holding up?"\\ Vic sent over the autobot connection.

//"Vic, you better get down here."\\ Sideswipe sent over the connection, his voice held a tone she had never heard from Sideswipe before. The redhead wasted no time, she took off running towards where the main fight had taken place though the sounds of battle seemed to have quieted now.

//"What's wrong Sides?"\\ she asked over the connection as she ran.

//"Just get here, you're not going to believe this."\\ Sideswipe responded. Victoria quickly made her way out the maze of crates and equipment and ran right towards the rail that separated the loft from the main section of the room, she leapt over it and fell the twenty-five feet to the ground level, landing in a roll to take impact off her joints and equalize it amongst her reinforced frame before she got to her feet, she looked towards where Ironhide was, her first concern had been that he was injured, though she gave a sigh of relief seeing that he was still standing and, besides a bit of damage to his armor, wasn't much worse for wear.

"A'right, what ya needed me to hurry for Sides?" she asked looking towards the silver mech.

"Like I said, you're not going to believe this." Sideswipe said before pointing towards where Barricade was, it took only a second to realize there was something, no, someone in the former decepticon's hand, a blue haired someone to be specific who was trying to struggle free.

Victoria shrugged "Stormflux's holoform? What, she too hurt to try an' fight in 'er true form and tried to use the holoform to keep going?" Victoria asked.

"I put a plasma charge right through 'er spark chamber after the others ran Vic, her holoform activated after she had been offlined." Ironhide said, drawing Victoria's attention, she tilted her head a bit before walking towards where she saw Stormflux's body laying, she looked over the damage, the optics were dark and her color seemed faded, the spark chamber was simply destroyed, there was nothing left in it and much of the femme's chest was destroyed, it was just a hollow shell now, not even an ounce of life in it as a pool of energon expanded from where the prone body was.

"How the 'ell? If she's dead. . ." Vic began before looking to the struggling holoform in Barricade's grasp, the black and white mech looked rather smug with himself for some reason. ". . .then how the 'ell is 'er holoform still going?"

"It's not her holoform Victoria." Ratchet began "Once her holoform activated the molecules from the holo-matter generator transmogrified into a biological substance."

"In English please." Vic said, looking towards the medic.

"She's human, mostly." Ratchet simplified "She has her spark but that is the only cybertronian quality she maintains."

"Ya shittin' me." the redhead said before looking to where Barricade was holding Stormflux, the woman had given up struggling at this point, likely realizing she wasn't going anyplace anytime soon. "How the 'ell did that happen?" Victoria asked.

"I don't know." Ratchet said.

"Can't I just drop her? She'll be out of everyone's way." Barricade asked.

"We will take her, perhaps now that she is human she will be more reasonable." Optimus said as he walked up and held his hand out.

"Fine, as long as I don't have to deal with her." Barricade said as he, rather ungracefully, discarded Stormflux into the autobot leader's hand, Optimus carefully grasped her, he seemed to be taking a lot of care to insure he didn't injure her. "That boy is hiding in one of the buildings nearby." the former decepticon said.

"Ya told me Megatron took 'im." Victoria called out to Barricade, the black and white mech smirked, even the redhead had to admit, when he smirked Barricade did look scary, not that she would ever admit it out loud of course.

"Yes, I did say that, call it a little incentive so you didn't waste time fighting the decepticons. He's perfectly safe, a little bruised but he'll get over it. Also, you need to learn how to secure your frequency, I didn't have any trouble contacting you, it's why I gave you that little message." Barricade said before he turned and transformed, not wasting any more time before he peeled out and sped from the building, Victoria just tilted her head a bit, that mech sure was a confusing one.

"Let's find Sam." Optimus said, Bumblebee nodded in agreement and they began to move from the warehouse to search, it didn't take them long to find the boy as Sam called back to them when he heard them shouting his name, the young man had taken refuge in one of the small storage sheds, he was filthy, scratched up, but he was alright.

Victoria saw Bumblebee moved to change into his alt form after Optimus had asked him to bring Sam to the base, Mudflap, Skids, Jolt and Prowl went with them as the yellow camaro led the way. The tall blue and red leader turned to those who remained, Stormflux still held in his hand though she glared at the redhead.

"How did you get that fleshling?" the blue haired woman near shouted, pointing at the missile launcher still sling over Victoria's shoulder.

"Flamewar dropped it when I buried 'er in a bunch of crates, got a issue with that?" the redhead said, returning the now human decepticon's glare, Stomrflux began struggling in Optimus's hand but made no progress.

"Let me go you autobot scum!" she protested.

"So ya can run back to the decepticon's Stormflux? Ya in a human body now, think bout it, what makes ya think they won't jus' crush ya?" Victoria said before Optimus raised his other hand up, gesturing for Vic to hold on for a moment as the leader looked to the blue haired woman in his grasp.

"She is right, you know as well was we do what the decepticons will do seeing your new situation. Now, we won't hurt you, like it or not you classify as human now, we're going to bring you back to base with us. I would suggest you try to adjust or things will be very difficult for you." Optimus told the woman in his hand as Victoria and the others watched.

"Slag you!" Stormflux shouted in response as she tried to struggle free again and, once more, found no success.

"A'right, so who's the unlucky sucker who get's to be 'er ride?" Victoria asked though her sarcastic smirk faded when she saw who Optimus pointed to.

* * *

She just had to open her big mouth, now she and Ironhide were stuck escorting the blue haired, now human Stormflux back to base. Sure, Optimus agreed to let Vic tied her up so she wouldn't try to attack her or try anything else funny on the way to their home but sadly Victoria hadn't thought of gagging the loud mouthed woman in the process.

"Just let me go, you can't take me prisoner!" Stormflux shouted as she struggled against the ropes around her and the seatbelt holding her in place.

"Will ya jus' shuddup a'ready? No matter how many times ya say it I ain't letting ya go so just shut it and sit tight." Victoria said.

"Who asked you fleshy?" Stormflux responded with.

"Heh, ya calling me fleshy, maybe ya should take a look at yaself deceptibitch." the redhead said before giving a small sigh //"Please Optimus, can I jus' shoot 'er or something, she got on my last nerve bout ten minutes ago."\\ Victoria sent over the autobot communication connection.

//"We're almost there Victoria, just be patient."\\ Optimus told her.

//"Patient, yea, easy for you to say, ya ain't the one sitting next to her, I'm bout to knock 'er one."\\ Victoria sent back.

//"Don't Victoria, remember, the metal running through your. . ."\\ Optimus began before Victoria cut him off.

//"Metal in my bones means I can hit hard enough to injure another human, I know, I know, so what's the downside?"\\ Victoria responded.

//"We don't hurt humans, you know that."\\ Optimus told her.

//"You aren't gonna win this one Vic, trust me."\\ Ironhide added into the conversation.

//"But I am human, cmon, humans hit each other all the time."\\ Vic sent.

//"Most humans don't have a cybertronian substructure either."\\ Ratchet interjected.

//"The answer's no Victoria."\\ Optimus stated, Victoria just sighed at that.

//"Can I at least gag 'er? Something to shut 'er ass up."\\ Victoria asked.

//"I'd help."\\ Ironhide commented.

//"No, both of you. We can't help her if we treat her like she's still an enemy."\\ Optimus scowled over the connection.

"I said untie me glitch! Are you even listening to me?" Stormflux fussed from where she was bound.

"I'm trying not to, ta be hones'." Vic said to the blue haired woman in Ironhide's passenger seat. //"Who said she ain't still the enemy? She's sure as 'ell acting like she is."\\ Victoria sent.

//"It might take time, but if she is stuck that way then she is technically human, she will come to realize that."\\ Optimus said as they finally made their way onto the abandoned road leading them home, Victoria was more than relieved to see they were close to getting home, and close to being able to get the hell away from Stormflux's whining.

//"Jus' how human, she still got 'er spark right?"\\ Vic asked over the connection.

//"She does, yes, but that is the only cybertronian quality she still holds. Unlike you she has no metal in her structure nor does she possess the secondary connections in her brain that allow you to communicate via com connections. Besides her spark she is completely human and just as fragile has you were before the partial change."\\ Ratchet said as they made their way to the base, coming to a stop, Victoria just sighed.

//"Ironic justice I guess."\\ she commented as Ironhide's door opened, Victoria got out before making her way to the passenger side of the weapons specialist's alternative mode, the door opened as the seatbelt released the bound passenger, Stormflux began to struggle against the ropes again once she was free of the seatbelt.

"Just get 'er out so I can transform." Ironhide said.

"Heh, hones'ly babe, I wouldn't blame ya for jus' wanting 'er out for the sheer fact of how annoying her ass is." the redhead said as she grabbed hold of the ropes wrapped around Stormflux's torso, tugging the blue haired woman out and letting her drop onto her rear on the ground nearby before she reached in and pulled the missile launcher she had commandeered from Flamewar out of Ironhide's back seat and stepped back for him to be able to make the change.

The redhead looked over to Stormflux as the human decepticon glared at her "Welcome home, try to behave eh?" Victoria said.

"Slag off." Stormflux muttered, Victoria just shook her head, smirking a bit.

"Ya in for a rough ride ya keep that shit up, tell ya that now." Victoria said as she looked up to where Ironhide now stood "So, Optimus decided what to do with 'er?" the redhead asked before, speak of the devil, she got an incoming communication from the autobot leader, she held her hand up to let Ironhide know to give her just a second as she accepted the incoming com.

//"I need to speak with you Victoria. Sam and Bumblebee are going to retrieve Stormflux."\\ Optimus sent her over a private connection, his tone sounded a good bit serious and she had a feeling she was about to get fussed at.

"Eh, I think I'm in trouble, Optimus said Bumblebee and Sam are coming to grab Stormflux, and 'e wants to talk to me." Victoria told Ironhide before she responded to Optimus's message //"On my way."\\ she sent before the connection clicked closed from Optimus's end. "Scratch that, pretty sure I'm in trouble, I better go." she said as she looked up to Ironhide, her sweetheart just nodded.

"Probably a good idea." Ironhide said before the redhead began towards the office, passing Sam and Bumblebee on the way. She was pretty much ready for a preaching session from the autobot leader, she just hoped he wasn't too upset with her, after all, she only wanted to deck Stormflux, that chick was more annoying as a human than she had been as a decepticon in Victoria's opinion.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_Is it bad I almost feel sorry for Stormflux? Then again on the other hand, payback's a bitch! As much as she hates humans she's stuck as one, better yet, as much as she hates autobots she's stuck with them, I don't know which I find more amusing. This also means more rivalry, yea, like there ain't enough of that goin' around eh? Vic hates Stormflux and the feeling's mutual, this should prove entertaining._

_And yes, Ironhide did ask what ya though he asked, I actually was debating not even putting that in, sure it was in my pile of subplot hooks but I almost didn't put it in, though Sideswipe's reaction, I just had to what the loud "WHAT!" thing happen, I couldn't find any other kind of reaction that would fit to be honest._

_Yea, Vic's in trouble, but hey, she is the one who decided to mouth off, and humor will come of this._

_I'm evil to my characters, aren't I?_

_Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, til next time ya'll!_


	6. Reluctant Guardian

The redhead made her way into the office Optimus had on base, she knew she should be ready for a lecture, he hadn't sounded too happy with her over the coms. She walked in, seeing the autobot leader was sitting at a massive desk looking over something the redhead sighed, here went nothing.

"Ya wanted to talk to me Optimus?" she said as she made her way inside, the red and blue mech looked up to her, a serious expression on his face, she braced herself for the incoming preaching session.

"Yes." he said as he set what he was looking at down and motioned for her to come closer, the redhead did, hoping he wasn't too upset. "Were you really going to hit Stormflux? Victoria, she's human now, defenseless and probably scared, you asked to join the ranks of the autobots, a request I honored but as an autobot you cannot show hostility to a human, as annoying as she may be to you." the leader said, his gaze on the small redhead as he spoke.

"She's a decepticon Optimus." Victoria said. "She's the one who shoved me into that damned machine in Australia. Ya gotta expect some hard feelin's ya know?"

"She was a decepticon, we don't know how it happened but as Ratchet said, besides still having her spark she is human now, and considering what she knows the decepticons will likely try to kill her so she doesn't betray information. I'm not surprised she's being resistant but this is a sudden change for her, she will need a guardian. Someone to help her adjust to human life, as she may well be stuck like this."

Victoria raised an eyebrow at his last statement before it clicked, she raised her hands defensively "Oh 'ell no, ya ain't suggesting I be her guardian are ya? Ya know my temper, I'm gonna end up decking 'er, it'd jus' be a matter of time, I can't be 'er guardian Optimus, I mean no disrespect but ya trying to mix oil an' water there."

"You were born completely human Victoria, , you still are human for the most part, you would be the best one to help her adjust. I trusted your judgment when you asked to become an autobot, I trust you'll be able to contain your temper long enough to help her, and to help protect her from her former allies." Optimus stated.

"Ya gotta be joking." the redhead said.

"I am not, you're her guardian Victoria. I trust you'll be able to put your hostilities aside and be able to fulfill that duty. Sam and Bumblebee took her to the medical bay for Ratchet to check over her, you should be able to find your charge there." Optimus said before he began looking over his previous task once more.

The redhead sighed "Jus' hope ya know what ya doin' Optimus, an' hope ya right." she said before turning to leave the office and make her way to the med bay, she couldn't believe it, sure, he had a point, being human she would be able to explain things to Stormflux but the decepticon had almost cost the redhead her life, had attacked her and her friends, she was a decepticon, human or not, Victoria just didn't understand how Optimus could want to actually help the femme, even if she was now human.

Victoria entered the med bay to see Stormflux standing on the table, she had been untied and Bumblebee's holoform was active, holding her still as Ratchet ran scans over her, the redhead figured to be sure she was alright after the change. Sam was standing near where Bumblebee's alt form was parked on the ground, the younger man looked towards Vic as she entered the room.

"She kept giving Ratchet trouble, trying to run, are you sure it's safe to even have her here?" Sam asked the redhead.

"Hones' opinion? I think it's fuckin' nuts, but it's what Optimus wants, heh, jus' be lucky ya ain't the one who's gonna have to put up with 'er." Vic said as she walked pass Sam.

"Yea, feel sorry for whoever ends up having to watch after her." Sam stated, rubbing the back of his head a bit "You know who's going to be keeping an eye out on her?"

The redhead paused, giving a heavy sigh at that "Yea, me." she said, distain in her voice before she continued towards the table, she didn't hear a response from Sam, she figured the news was shocking to the young man but she said nothing more towards him. She began to climb up the leg of the table to get to the top where Stormflux was being held by Bumblebee, the woman was protesting, trying to pull away from Bumblebee's holoform and shouting, Victoria wasn't even paying attention to what she was shouting, she was just hoping Stormflux would wear herself out continuing on like that.

Ratchet looked over to Victoria after he finished up a scan "She seems completely healthy, her spark is still there, as I previously stated, but it seems her change was complete besides that, no remains of cybertronian structure nor connections in her brain. She is, for all intents and purposes, human." the medic informed the redhead.

"How the 'ell that happened I don't think I even wanna know, so she can't take a hit even?" Victoria asked.

"No, she cannot, I'm baffled by the occurrence as well, it is unheard of. I can theorize that perhaps it's a residual effect of being so near the allspark fragment when it attempted to change you, but there is no way to be certain." the medic stated as Stormflux just kept yelling, managing to pull away from Bumblebee's holoform, the woman tried to run to the edge of the table only to be met by Victoria's hand grabbing her by the arm, spinning the human decepticon around to face the redhead. Victoria's eyes narrowed, she was not happy about having to play caretaker for Stormflux.

"Look, ya gonna sit down, shut up, an' let them help ya, I ain't got any issue with knockin' ya the fuck out if I gotta, got it?" Victoria said as Stromflux moved to right out punch the redhead, Victoria's head snapped to the side at the contact of the hit, it hurt the flesh of her face but that was about it, the redhead smirked as she looked back to Stormflux. "Ya hit like a punk, guess ya really are human now." the redhead said before shoving Stormflux back, making her fall on her rear as Bumblebee's holoform moved to restrain the blue haired woman once more.

"Slag off! Just let me go!" Stormflux yelled before Victoria looked back towards Ratchet.

The medic shook his head "We are trying to help you Stormflux, you need to realize that." Ratchet said before looking towards Victoria "She is going to need a guardian."

"Yea, I know, and guess who's the unlucky one gettin' stuck with 'er. He's assigned me to be her guardian, fuckin' figures." Victoria said before glancing back towards the struggling Stormflux "A sedative might be a good idea, bout the only way to get 'er to calm down it looks like. She's gonna hurt 'erself going on like that."

"I agree, that's the third time she's gotten free and tried to run." Ratchet said as he activated his holoform, moving to retrieve some sedatives from the storage before moving towards Stormflux, having to dodge a fist that came at him before managing to pin her arm so he could administer a small dosage. It took a few moments but soon Stormflux's struggling calmed some, she was still awake but sluggish. Victoria moved forward, deciding that, if she was going to have to put up with Stormflux she would, at the least, have to try and talk to her, as she grew closer she felt an emotion that wasn't her own in her spark, the redhead blinked a bit and looked into Stormflux's half lidded eyes, the emotion lasted for only a moment but she could identify it even considering how briefly it was felt through the creation bond she and the decepticon shared. That emotion was fear.

* * *

Bumblebee had taken Sam home by this point, once Stormflux had been calmed down, even if it was by use of a sedative, she had become much more manageable. They were still sitting in the med bay right now, Stormflux sitting on the table, leaned up against a crate Ratchet set up for her to have a backrest, the medic was still watching over the blue haired woman, making sure she had no adverse effects to the sedative he had given her as Victoria kept looking over her out of pure curiosity. The redhead's anger had subsided by now, she still wasn't happy with the fact she had Stormflux as a charge but she was calmer now at least.

"I'm stuck here, aren't I?" Stormflux finally spoke, her voice sounded sorrowful.

"Heh, define 'stuck', some of us rather like it here." Victoria said.

"You're not a decepticon." Stormflux responded.

"Ya not mucha one anymore either, have ya taken a look in the mirror yet? Ya human now, better get use to it." The redhead told the blue haired woman.

"We are not going to hurt you Stormflux, we want to help, if you'll let us." Ratchet interjected.

"Some of us wanna help, some of us jus' ain't got a choice." Victoria said, earning her a glare from Ratchet.

/"Victoria, I know you are not pleased with being Stormflux's guardian but at least give her a chance, this could be a new start for her."\\ Ratchet sent her, this getting a sigh from the redhead.

"You hate me, I know it." Stormflux said as she looked towards Victoria, bringing her hand to her chest, over where her spark was "I'm still aware of the bond you know, I can feel your hate human."

"Look what ya did Stormflux, can ya really blame me?" Victoria told Stormflux before turning her attention to the private connection open with Ratchet /"I know Ratch, look, I'll try but I can't make any promises."\\ she sent.

/"Not broadcasting your dislike for her through your bond would be a start."\\ the medic responded.

"The feeling's mutual." Stormflux said before sighing, leaning back against the crate she was rested against.

"Then we're gonna have a rough start." the redhead said turning her attention inward /"I can't help it Ratch, remember, you're born with these things, I'm not. By the way, I'll need to ask you something later."\\ she sent to the medic.

/"You will need to try. Also, you can ask now if you wish, it's not as if she can hear us."\\ Ratchet responded.

/"Not now, need to think bout how Imma word it firs'."\\ Victoria responded to the medic as she saw Stormflux's eyes close, it was getting late, Victoria was slightly sleepy herself, it seemed the sedative had calmed Stormflux enough for her to be able to rest.

Ratchet moved to place the now human decepticon in the smaller bed set up in the med bay, deciding it was best she stay there for the night in case there were any issues he missed during his scans. Victoria left to return to the warehouse she and Ironhide stayed in, he was still awake and she did need to fill him in one how things had progressed though, after that she would certainly need sleep, this day had been taxing both physically and mentally.

* * *

Sadly, in the morning the sedative had worn off and now, much to Victoria and Ironhide's dismay, Stormflux turned out to be overly emotional. The blue haired woman was sitting against a wall, her head in her hands sobbing with the occasional shout while Ironhide and the redhead were staying well on the other side of the warehouse, comforting wasn't either of their specialties, well, unless it came to each other.

"Think we should try and get 'er to stop cryin'." Ironhide asked, Victoria just shrugged in response.

"I ain't comforting 'er, she swung at me last time." Vic said as she brought her arms to cross over her chest.

"You're her guardian Vic, and it ain't like her punchin' you hurt."

"Don't remind me, an' how ya know if didn't?"

"Well did it?"

"Not really."

"Exactly my point." Ironhide said with a smirk as Stormflux looked up at them, her eyes were still red even though she was human now, tears were streaming down the human decepticon's face before she just dropped her head back into her hands and continued sobbing. Ironhide sighed at that, looking over to Victoria "Look, I know you hate 'er, I ain't too fond of 'er either, but Prime did give you the responsibility." he said.

"He said for me to teach 'er how to live as a human an' keep 'er safe, he ain't said a thing bout comforting 'er. Karma's a bitch, I think she's finding that out now." Victoria said before she felt sadness and panic grip her spark as Stormflux let out another wail of tears. "Damnit, wish she'd stop doing that." the redhead muttered.

"Stop doing what Vic?" Ironhide asked.

"Letting her emotions through, I mean, I keep feeling 'em, it's why I couldn't sleep worth a damn last night, seemed, even still being human she can still sense and send emotions through the bond. It's driving me nuts." Vic answered as she brought her hand to rest over where the spark was in her chest, she glared at Stormflux, anger began to rise before she felt a deepening sorrow from the bond ~"Is my hate for her really effecting her that much?"~ Victoria thought before giving a small sigh. She tried to quell her own anger so Stormflux wouldn't feel it, hoping that maybe that would help a bit so she didn't keep feeling those emotions from the blue haired woman.

"You sure you can't comfort 'er? All that cryin's gettin' to me." Ironhide said.

"Trus' me babe, it's been getting on my nerves too. I'll try, but if she tries to deck me again you owe me." Vic said, throwing her hands up in defeat before walking towards where Stormflux was currently a sobbing mess sitting on the floor. Victoria leaned over a bit to look at her before, sure enough, she had to stand suddenly to avoid another punch, bringing her right hand up to catch Stormflux's wrist "Hey, I ain't trying to hurt ya, calm ya ass down girl!" she said as Stormflux's other fist came up, she moved to grab that one with her left, metal covered hand and hold the woman's wrists in place, glancing back to Ironhide "Told ya." she said, she just heard Ironhide chuckle, oh she was going to get him back for that later, but for now she had to do something about Stormflux.

"Let me go! It's bad enough I'm stuck like this! Stop treating me like a prisoner!" she shouted as she tried to pull away from Victoria's grasp but the redhead held firm, likely a little too firm.

"Look, calm ya ass down, if we were gonna hurt ya we already woulda." Victoria said, trying to keep her voice calm but she was annoyed "Look, I know it's a big change a'right? I know everything ya have ever known has been flipped on it's ass, I know ya feel like ya lost everything, I get it. . ."

"How could you? What have you ever had taken from you?" Stormflux interrupted with her shout.

"Everything and everyone at one point, that's what, you don't know me Stormflux, you don't know what I've lost, you don't know jus' how much I can understand. I won't lie, I can't fuckin' stand ya but I do understand what ya goin' through, in a different sense yea, but the basic principle of it I get." The redhead said, looking right into Stormflux's eyes, to think, those were once the eyes of someone who wanted to kill her, but now the decepticon had been reduced to this, a shaking, sobbing mass, a shell of who she was. Victoria gave a small sigh as Stormflux struggled to try and get free. The redhead's voice took on a calm, stern tone, if one knew no better, one could mistake it for protective or motherly even "Stormflux, you have people here who are willing to give you a second chance, just. . .jus' don't fuck it up, a'right." the redhead said before releasing Stormflux's wrists and turning away, moving to walk back towards Ironhide when she heard Stormflux's voice from behind.

"Would you really give me a second chance?" Stormflux asked.

Victoria paused for a moment before giving a heavy sigh, her head lowering slightly for a moment before she glanced back to the blue haired women "Maybe, if ya earn it." she said before turning and continuing back towards Ironhide, coming to stand at his side with a hand on his lower leg.

/"Didn't expect you to give 'er that answer."\\ Ironhide sent her over a private connection.

/"Ya aren't the only one, but it's still up to her if she takes it or not."\\ she sent back before Ironhide lowered his hand for her to climb onto, he then lifted her to his shoulder where she came to sit, a hand lightly trailing over the horn like part if the weapons specialist's head /"Maybe we should round up a few of the others tomorrow and let her see the human world from 'er new form."\\

/"Think that'll help?"\\ Ironhide asked her through the com connection.

/"It's worth a shot."\\ Vic sent him before looking to Stormflux once more, the girl was going to need a change of clothes and a few other things to make it in her new, human form, she was shorter than Victoria so they would have to purchase items for her soon, the redhead figured they may as well get that out the way tomorrow.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_Soooooooo sorry this one is so short, I was really busy this week, I was gonna hold off on posting but found an issue. First off, ya'll have gone without an update long enough, second off, more is gonna be happening and didn't want it to be instantly, so as to not make ya'll wait or reveal too much in one chapter, I cut this one short, like really short, the next chapter WILL be my normal length however._

_I do wish to thank my reviewers, I do like hearing from ya'll and thank ya for stickin' around eh?_

_Til next time ya'll._


	7. Old Friend

It had been a few days now, they had managed to keep Stormflux in line when they went to get the woman some clothes, mostly due to Ironhide, Ratchet, Victoria and Sideswipe all keeping an eye on her, Vic never thought one woman could be so much trouble, but it would seem that's all Stormflux was really, trouble. The last few days had been spent trying to stop the blue haired woman from running, though she was miles from town, she had no place to run to and they had told her as much, but she simply wouldn't listen. She was fighting them every step of the way even though they were trying to help her.

Victoria was getting beyond fed up with Stormflux and she knew Ironhide was at his wit's end with her, but she was assigned as the woman's guardian after all and the redhead would be damned if she didn't perform the duty assigned to her. Thankfully, for right now, Stormflux was being less belligerent than previously as they sat in the lounge, the blue haired woman sitting well at the far end of the room with a pen and notebook, they had found out the former decepticon rather liked to write, though she wrote in cybertronian and Victoria had no clue what those symbols meant but if it kept Stormflux from raising the ninth level of hell then she wasn't going to question it.

Vic and Ironhide were relaxing on the main seat in the lounge room, the redhead resting against the weapons specialist's chest as he held her. They truly hadn't gotten any time to relax together since Stormflux's situation began, and any intimacy between the lovers was out of the question so long at the blue haired woman was around, every time they had attempted to have a little fun of their own Stormflux pulled something, it was beginning to frustrate both Victoria and Ironhide at this point.

It was silent for a while, Vic and Ironhide doing their normal banter and conversing via the private coms and Stormflux writing before, surprisingly, the blue haired woman spoke up civilly. "You know, if I'm going to live as a human then I'll need a human name to go by." Stormflux said, drawing both of their attention.

"Yea, ya do, go anything in mind?" Vic asked her.

"I've been thinking about it, nothing appeals to me yet." The blue haired woman said as she continued writing. "Got any Ideas? I'm open to suggestion."

Vic shrugged slightly, "Don't really know, not good with names to be hones'." she stated as she ran a hand down Ironhide's chest, she felt him shift just slightly when she did so which brought a smirk to her lips.

/"Vic, you know I'm ticklish there."\\ Ironhide sent her over the com connection.

"Slag, I'm really going to need help figuring one out, I don't know many." Stormflux said as she placed the notebook she was writing in to the side.

"We'll figure something out. Does this mean ya gonna stop tryin' to run?" The redhead asked as she continued running her hand across Ironhide's chest plating /"I wasn't aiming for tickling, tryin' to be affectionate."\\ she sent to him.

/"I know, just careful of that spot.\\ he sent in response, Vic just smiled, resting her head on his chest once more, the smile on her face widening as she heard his spark's rhythmic pulsations, her own pulsing within her chest at that time, Oh how she wished it wasn't so inaccessible to him.

"Yes, look, I don't know what the pit to do, seems I'm stuck like this, may as well get use to it." Stormflux said as she stood and walked forward a bit "Are you still willing to try and help me?" she asked.

"Yea Stormflux, told ya we were, why we brought ya here after all. Though, we got someone comin' from NEST to help with ya, 'er name's Cira, Optimus asked for help to be sent with how much ya were tryin' to run, but, well, maybe she'll be able to help ya get use to bein' human too." Vic said, they hadn't mentioned the coming help to Stormflux before but she figured it was better for her to know before the new arrival made it there, she was due to arrive later in the day after all. /"Maybe once this NEST operative comes we'll be able to steal some personal time together too, here's hopein'."\\ she sent to her lover.

/"I'm countin' on it."\\ Ironhide responded via the com.

"Great, a NEST member, another person who'll want to hit me." Stormflux said, rolling her eyes as she made the comment.

"Doubt it, well, 'less ya give 'em a reason. I don't know 'er so couldn't tell ya." The redhead said to Stormflux before turning her attention to the inner com once more /"An' maybe it'll also give me a chance to have a chat with Ratch, see if, well, if it's possible for us to bond."\\ she sent to the weapons specialist.

/"There gotta be a way Vic, we'll find a way."\\ Ironhide sent her as he held her ever so slightly tighter against his chest, not near enough to cause pain but certainly enough that his affection was clear.

"So where are they going to be here then?" Stormflux asked.

"Can be any time today, don't know the ETA." the redhead answered as she rested against Ironhide's chest, she felt her spark's pulsations growing slightly quicker in pace as it warmed her chest a bit, a feeling of longing welling up. /"I know love, it's why I plan on talking to him about it, maybe he'll have some idea of how."\\ she sent over the com to Ironhide.

/"He might, after he's done starin' at you in shock."\\ Ironhide sent back, a small chuckle causing his chest to move slightly and provoking a smile from the redhead.

A smirk was visible on Stormflux's lips, the blue haired woman shook her head a bit "How the pit do you two do it? I mean, it's a bit weird don't you think?" she said.

"Well, if ya think bout it, we really ain't that different Stormflux. 'Ell, ya felt the emotions through the creation bond, ya know human got a full emotional range, so we're different physically, surface don't matter." the redhead stated.

"Spark don't know species, besides, holoforms are useful." Ironhide added as he brought his other hand up, lightly running a finger down the redhead's arm affectionately.

"Well, I guess, if you say so. Still weird, I see how touchy you two are even without a holoform." Stormflux commented.

"Humans ain't madea glass Stormflux, we can be handled, 'ell, ya know that, an' now, with cybertronian metal runnin' through me, I'm a lot sturdier than before." Vic said.

"I guess so, still, it's weird to me, but hey, if you two can make it work then that's what matters." Stormflux said before sitting back down and beginning to write again.

Victoria tilted her head just slightly /"Was she jus'. . . . .completely civil with us?"\\ the redhead sent to Ironhide.

/"I think so, kinda scary if you ask me."\\ Ironhide replied.

/"No shit, did she, like, ya know, hit 'er head or something'?"\\ Vic asked over the private com.

/"No idea, think we should get Ratch to look at 'er just in case?"\\ he sent in response.

/"Ya know, maybe we should, she ain't that nice, firs' time she ain't been a bitch."\\ Victoria sent back. They were both a good bit perplexed by this small show of civilness from the former decepticon, they honestly didn't know how to take it. One thing was for certain, Stormflux just acted far too nice to be healthy, or so they thought at least.

* * *

They had received contact from the NEST operative who was being sent to help deal with Stormflux, though the blue haired woman seemed to be reluctant, her snappy attitude making a return, Victoria and Ironhide had managed to get her outside as the rotor beats of the incoming chopper became audible in the distance. The redhead looked to the sky as the helicopter came into view, bringing a hand up to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun.

"Well Stormflux, get ready to meet who's gonna be helping' us with ya. Try an' behave eh?" Victoria commented as the chopper hovered above, not landing but instead releasing a rope before a dark haired woman dressed in BDUs came into view, a cargo bag on her back, long brown hair pulled back onto a ponytail. The woman grabbed onto the rope before sliding down it and landing on the ground, once she was standing she signaled to the chopper which then began to rise, moving to depart from the area as the new arrival turned towards the three who were waiting.

"Master Chief Sergeant Cira Landers reporting, Optimus said yer havin' some trouble with a 'Con." Cira said looking over towards Stormflux before pointing a thumb at the blue haired woman "That her?" She asked, looking over to Ironhide.

"Yea, Optimus should be out in a few to give you the details." Ironhide answered.

Stormflux scuffed a bit, her arms crossing over her chest, Vic wouldn't help but sigh seeing this, shaking her head a bit, Stormflux was a handful, there was no possible way of denying that fact, even if the blue haired woman had calmed down a bit, she was still trouble.

"Well, guess an introduction is in order, or have ya a'ready been fully briefed?" the redhead inquired.

"I got a full recap before leaving, dun worry." Cira said as they heard another door open from one of the large warehouses, sure enough there was Optimus, the massive blue and red leader came to stand nearby as Victoria and Ironhide both received a private communication from him.

/"We have a small problem, Bumblebee alerted me to Decepticon activity near Sam's school, no attacks yet but the increased activity is worrisome, I would like the two of you keep an eye on him."\\ Optimus said via the internal com as he began to also speak with Cira.

/"Why us?"\\ Ironhide inquired.

/"Because we suspect pretenders are being used again, we can keep a closer eye on Sam if we have someone who can actually go into the school, to deal with any possible situations with minimal unneeded damage. That is where Victoria comes in."\\ Optimus explained.

/"OK, what about me now?"\\ the redhead asked via the private com.

/"It has been arranged, one of the teachers will be taking a paid leave of absence, until the situation has either passed or been dealt with you will be acting as a substitute, I trust you'll be able to keep an eye out on Sam in such a position, Cira will be watching over Stormflux in the time being."\\ the blue and red autobot explained through the com as he continued speaking with Cira about the odd situation.

/"Wait, what? Yo Optimus, I ain't a teacher, I get wanting to watch after Sam without disrupting his life but, teaching, it jus' ain't something I have any experience with, I won't even be able to put up a good front."\\ The redhead sent over the com.

/"The teacher who's place you are going to be taking has only one class five days out of the week, it's an advance mechanics course, I trust you'll be able to keep up with the subject considering your previous profession."\\ Optimus informed the redhead.

/"What about her arm Optimus? The metal exoskeleton is kinda hard to overlook."\\ Ironhide asked.

/"It can be hidden, I am sure she can find a way. I would suggest you two prepare to leave, you are scheduled to begin taking over the classes tomorrow, it is only temporary, once the Decepticon activity has been seen to and we can be sure Sam is safe you will be able to return without issue."\\ Optimus said through the com, this invoked a sigh from the redhead as the connection closed, he had to be joking, right? Sadly she knew better, she also knew she intended to find out if there were any pretenders in that school quickly, the less time she had to spend there the better.

* * *

They had informed Sam that Victoria and Ironhide were going to be keeping an eye on the collage, while Bumblebee seemed a good bit excited, Sam's reaction was predictable, he had been quite surprised by the fact but he accepted it, according to his reasoning, at least it wouldn't really interfere with his normal life.

They had arrived early in the morning, an apartment across the street from campus had been secured for usage though Ironhide was not too happy about the lack of at least a garage and Victoria couldn't blame him, she didn't much like the idea of Ironhide having to sit out in some uncovered parking lot either, both of them only hoped this would be dealt with quickly.

Though now there was another challenge to face, the class. Victoria was waiting in the classroom she was supposed to be filling in as a substitute for, a black jacket on with a long black glove covering the exoskeleton on her left arm, keeping it from view. The bell rang and soon the class began to make their way into the room, many odd looks being given to the 6'1" redhead who was leaning on the wall to the side of the chalk board, the class was small in size, thankfully, but she still didn't like it none the less.

It wasn't long until the class was all there and Victoria stepped forward, coming to stand behind the main work bench of the room, she looked over the class, the ages varied a little, the oldest there seemed her own age. There were only ten students, seven of them male and three female, though the gender misbalance didn't surprise her, after all not many young women seemed to take to mechanical fields as she had.

It didn't take long before the redhead gave a sigh hearing a little bit of snickering and whispered comments among a few of the students, she had to start this somehow "A'right, not sure you y'all were told beforehand but Mr. Olan is on leave until farther notice, I will be taking his place for the time being. Now, I got the lesson plans 'e was goin' over with y'all, so we're gonna try to keep up the pace. Name's Victoria Marcus, but nonea that Miss Marcus BS, call me Vic. Now, before we begin, are there any comments or smart ass remarks any of ya wanna get outta ya systems?" she asked, her gaze going right to a group of three young men who seemed to be lowly conversing and snickering in the back.

"Yea. When's the real substitute going to get here?" a dark haired young man from the small group that was snickering asked, the snark obvious in his voice "You know, someone who actually knows more about cars then what the back seat looks like." he added, his two little buddies chuckled at that, Victoria just smirked, walking from behind the work bench and towards the group, she expected comments like that, after all she had dealt with boys who had something against women in the mechanical fields before.

"You're lookin' at 'er." Victoria said as she came to a stop in front of his seat. "What's your name boy?"

"Benjamin Hyson." the dark haired boy answered.

"Well Benjamin, lemme ask you this, do you know the torque of the 2001 Honda Gold wing GL1800 or how many CCs the boxer-six engine that runs that beauty of a bike is factory standard? Or perhaps you rather cars, what about the horsepower RPM of the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette, or it's base engine size, would hope you would at the least know that." she said, looking at Benjamin expectantly, an eyebrow quirked as she waited for an answer.

"Like you even know." the boy responded with.

"I take that as ya admitting you're clueless, and in case you're curious the answers were 109 torque, 1832cc boxer-six engine type, the 2010 Corvette has a horsepower RPM of 5,900 and a base engine size of 6.2 liters. I do believe ya needa think before you assume how much I know about cars." Victoria said with a smirk before turning to walk back towards the front of the classroom, she could hear the three female students chuckling, she even swore she heard someone tell Benjamin that he just got told. "Now then." the redhead said as she turned back to the class, she had made her point and now she needed to keep up the front of actually being a teacher. "From my understanding you were working on rebuilding carburetors, right?" she asked as she looked over the notes the actual teacher had left.

/"How are things going in there?"\\ she received a com from Ironhide about half way through the class.

/"Want the hones' answer or the optimistic one?"\\ the redhead responded as she helped one of the students find a part they had dropped.

/"That good huh? Vic, I ain't sure if this is good news or bad news, but Barricade's in the area."\\ Ironhide informed her.

/"Barricade? Las' I remember he wasn't much of a threat, 'less things have changed."\\ Victoria sent before simply returning to the main workbench in front of the class.

/"That's what I'm worried bout. After the class today, try to find Sam, wanna make sure he's safe."\\ Ironhide sent.

/"A'ready planning' on it babe."\\ she responded. The rest of the class period went without much issue, as soon as the class had been dismissed she made her way from the room, thankfully they had been kind enough to give her a copy of Sam's class schedule to make keeping track of him easier, but the main problem occurred when he wasn't in the class he was supposed to be in. She tried Sam's cell phone at that point only for it to go right to voicemail before she began towards the parking lot Ironhide was currently occupying /"Babe, we may have a problem, Sam ain't in his scheduled class an' 'is phone's goin' straight to voicemail."\\ she sent as she dodged around a few students on her way to Ironhide.

/"Think he just skipped class?"\\ Ironhide responded with as the redhead finally got to him and climbed into the driver's seat.

"It's Sam, ya think 'e got the gull to skip for the hell of it?" she replied verbally before trying Sam's phone once again, and once more it went right to voicemail "Damnit! Babe, call Mikaela, see if. . ."

"Already did, she ain't heard from Sam since morning'." Ironhide interjected. "Prowl's scanning all frequencies and security footage around here to see if he can get a trail."

At that point a highly recognizable yellow and black camero pulled up alongside Ironhide and Bumblebee commed both the weapons specialist and the redhead in a panic /"His heat signature is no where's in the building, I checked, even the tracker in his phone isn't working. Guy's, I'm getting really worried!"\\

/"Calm down 'Bee, freakin' out ain't gonna help the situation."\\ Vic sent in response.

/"When was the last time you picked him up on your scanners?"\\ Ironhide asked.

/"Bout thirty minutes ago, he was on his way to class."\\ the scout responded.

/"And ya didn't keep an eye on 'im to realize when 'e vanished?"\\ The redhead asked before Ironhide got both of their attention.

/"Prowl found 'im! At a junkyard nearby, he's hurt!"\\ the black mech sent as his engine roar to life and he pulled from the parking lot without wasting any time, Bumblebee following close behind.

Victoria then opened a com to Prowl /"How bad's he injured Prowl?"\\ she asked.

/"According to the footage on the security camera, his injuries are minor but he has been rendered unconscious. He may need medical care if he has sustained a concussion but that seems to be the worst he may have suffered. I have provided Ironhide and Bumblebee with the exact coordinates, the three of you should have no trouble finding him."\\ Prowl answered. The redhead actually gave a small sigh of relieve hearing he wasn't too bad off as they barreled down the road towards the location. After a moment Prowl sent all three of them another small bit of information /"It seems Sam is not alone, there's another Cybertronian there but the footage is not clear enough for me to determine who. Be prepared for a possible fight."\\ Prowl added and, upon hearing that, Ironhide's speed increased, Vic moved to the back seat to reach under and retrieve her weapons from the holding compartment, securing them in their respective places before moving back to the driver's seat.

"Think it's Barricade with 'im? Cause I know we're the only three from our side in the area an' Sam's still alive so it prolly ain't an active Decepticon." Vic said as they neared the location.

"That or another Autobot landed and we didn't know bout it." Ironhide responded.

"I hope it's option number two, Barricade has helped us before, but I still don't trust 'im." the redhead stated as they pulled into the junkyard.

"You and me both." Ironhide commented, pulling to a stop once they were near to the coordinates and where the piles of damaged and discarded cars would block them from view, Victoria climbed out of Ironhide's alt mode, stepping away a bit as he and Bumblebee transformed. The redhead looked about the area though Bumblebee rushed forward, the look on the yellow bot's face showed his worry. Victoria and Ironhide followed, already knowing Bumblebee was going to head right towards where Sam was, sure enough, within mere minutes the scout had found his charge, Sam looked a bit roughed up but the injuries weren't too bad. As Victoria walked towards where Sam was laying knocked out on the ground she paused, something in the rubble catching her eye, what looked like Cybertronian parts, as she neared she realized what they were.

"Guys, got two pretender bodies here, judgin' by the damage, well, they're kinda crushed, someone helped 'im." the redhead stated, Ironhide stepping up behind her to inspect the remains of the pretenders and Bumblebee ever so gently lifted Sam from the ground.

/"He's not hurt too bad, I want to get him to a hospital though."\\ Bumblebee sent to Vic and Ironhide through the com.

"Prolly the best idea." Victoria said stepping back from the remains, though she couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched and, judging by how often Ironhide was looking around, he had the same feeling.

"Bumblebee, go head and get him outta here, me and Vic are gonna do a sweep of the area." the weapons specialist told the scout who then nodded, activating his holoform and handing Sam off to it before transforming and setting the unconscious boy inside. Once Bumblebee departed Ironhide looked to Vic "We ain't alone." he said.

"I know." was the redhead's only answer before she switched to the internal coms /"They haven't attacked yet, whoever it is, and if they helped take out the pretenders then they ain't a right out enemy. Ya getting' another on ya sensors love?"\\

/"No, I'm not, they must be cloaked."\\ Ironhide responded before they heard shuffling about nearby /"Don't need sensors to pick that up though."\\ he sent as yet a louder sound was heard, it actually sounded a bit like someone knocked something heavy over before the sound of transformation became apparent.

/"Whoever it is sounds clumsy too."\\ Vic sent over the com before calling out into the junkyard. "A'right, show yaself, don' make us go lookin' for ya."

"Subtle. . ." Ironhide said looking at the redhead, who then just shrugged.

"Since when have I been subtle?" she responded.

"Who's there? Look, I don't want any trouble." came a male Cybertronian voice Victoria didn't recognize, but the smirk on Ironhide's face told her he recognized it.

"You're kiddin' me! Is that who I think it is?" Ironhide called out before the sound of footsteps was heard.

"Ironhide? Primus it's been a while!" the other Cybertronian said before he finally came into view, the blue and white mech stood about 17 feet in height, the emblem on his chest told in no uncertain terms that his alternative form was a mustang, and by the looks of his coloration, a white mustang with blue racing stripes. A banded lower face mask was in place though he soon retracted it, smiling, his optics undeniably blue..

Victoria was pretty much lost here, she had no idea who this guy was but, hey, at least he seemed friendly, and he knew Ironhide so that was a good thing. "I didn't expect to see your aft here, why didn't you contact us?" Ironhide asked the white and blue bot.

"I couldn't, my sensors and communications got messed up when I landed, I think my aim was a bit off, hit a mountain." the newcomer said, bringing a hand back to rub the back of his neck a bit which brought forth a chuckle from Ironhide as Victoria just crossed her arms over her chest, an eyebrow raised.

"Ratch'll be able to fix that." Ironhide said before noticing the redhead's posture had changed to one of her more annoyed stances. "Oh, Vic, this is Wheeljack, an old friend, crazy slagger but an old friend." Ironhide said, bringing a hand down to lift Victoria up to his shoulder. "This is Victoria, her situation is a bit unique." Ironhide said.

"Unique's a damned understatement babe." Vic said looking towards Wheeljack then "Nice to meet ya, take it ya the one who took carea those pretenders?" she asked.

"Yea, boy looked like he needed help, didn't want to scare him though so I kind of hid after hoping he'd wake up." Wheeljack said.

"Boy's name is Sam, he's an ally, course not like you knew that." Ironhide stated.

"Imma contact Ratch an' let 'im know we got someone who needs repair, unless you already have." Vic said.

"Good idea Vic, go head." Ironhide said before turning his attention back to Wheeljack. "How long you been here?"

/"Hey, Ratchet, got an Autobot 'ere, Wheeljack, 'is coms an' sensors are all messed up but don't see any other damage. Ya wanna come here to see 'im or do we needa get 'is ass to you?"\\ Victoria sent to the chief medic.

"I only been here for a few days, got the message Optimus sent, I have been looking for you guys." Wheeljack answered Ironhide's inquiry.

/"Wheeljack? He made it?"\\ Ratchet responded sounding a bit surprised /"I'll be there, we can't have you and Ironhide abandon your mission. Speaking of, did you find Sam?"\\

/"Yea, we found 'im, not hurt too badly, just knocked the fuck out, Bumblebee brought him to a nearby hospital."\\ Victoria responded to the com.

/"Good, I'll be there within the hour, let Ironhide and Wheeljack know if you do not mind."\\ the medic sent.

/"Got it, we'll be waitin'."\\ Vic sent before closing the com connection and looking to Ironhide and Wheel jack "A'right, Ratchet's on 'is way, we jus' gotta sit tight an' wait for 'im." she told them.

"Wait? How the pit did she just contact Ratchet without a communication device?" Wheeljack asked, Victoria couldn't help but give a small chuckle.

"Long story." the redhead answered.

"We got time." Wheeljack said. Ironhide and Victoria then began to explain her less than average situation to the blue and white Autobot who seemed highly intrigued by the whole thing. Victoria had to admit, she was glad they had been regaining Autobot members, would make it easier to defend against the decepticons, and it was also a chance to make new friends, for her, it was a win-win situation, though she couldn't help but wonder how Stormflux was holding up with her new caretaker.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_So sorry about how long it took, I've been ill, have all kinds of things going on in real life, been caught up in RP, stressed, all that good stuff. Don't worry, I will not let this become a 'dead fic' and will continue it until it has been completed, it just might take me a while sometimes. _

_Yes, Wheeljack showed up, I blame my friend, LeathurKatt for that one, Also, Cira is an OC that belongs to JettaWindstar, she has been used with permission, but the rights to her are not mine but Jetta's._

_Anyways, hope this chapter didn't suck, I will keep writing, not gonna let this fic just die, just bare with me if ya'll would be so kind._

_Til next til ya'll!_


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